Following the all-party meeting with the Election Commission (EC) on January 16, Congress said that the poll body was not prepared and they were confused during a demonstration of the prototype Remote Voting Machine (RVM).
Representatives of all recognised national parties and over 40 state-recognised parties were in attendance for the EC meeting and demonstration of the prototype RVM.
Speaking to the media after attending the meeting, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, โThey have not prepared the presentation that they have given to us. They are themselves confused.โ
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief minister said that when there is no survey of migrant labourers, how can they provide services for them?
โThey say itโs (migrant voters) 30 crores. In an RTI reply, they said itโs only 70,000. So they are all confused at the moment. The ECI and CEC should be above suspicion,โ Singh said.
โBelieve me, there is a huge suspicion about the efficacy of the EVM (electronic voting machine) and the chances of any manipulation of the chip, as it can be hacked,โ he said.
โWhy canโt there be transparency? We donโt know whether it is a single or multi programmable chip, we donโt know from where the microchips are being bought and who is writing the software?โ he said.
โAll these questions were raised by eminent civil societies, and even the citizensโ commissions have given a detailed report on the issues that have to be addressed before we can trust the EVM machine,โ he said.
He also asserted that no developed country is using EVMs. โIn Germany, the SC there wrote a detailed order why the EVM should not be used for the national election,โ he said.
When asked if the poll panel gave any demonstration of the RVM, Singh said, โNo demonstration will take place as the fact is the idea of the RVM itself will not be accepted. And first, we have to know what the need is for the RVM.โ
To a question on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati demanding the return of the ballot paper voting system, saying there is โsomething wrongโ with the EVMs, Singh said, โI am very happy that Mayawati does not trust the EVM machine. We welcome her doubts about the EVMs.โ
Mayawati said on Sunday, โSomething is wrong with EVMs, some are sabotaging it. During the time of ballot paper, our number of seats and percentage of votes used to increase in all polls. Polls must be conducted with ballot paper again.โ
The poll panel invited all recognised national and state parties for a discussion on increasing voter turnout among migrant workers and to watch a demonstration of the RVM produced by the Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL).
As per the Election Commissionโs communication to the parties, the meeting includes a presentation on remote voting and a demonstration of the RVM, besides taking feedback from participants.
