New Delhi, July 5 (Inditop.com) It was the turn of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan to question the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) Sunday, close on the heels of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani raising doubts about them.
“If the electronic device to count the votes of 543 members in the Lok Sabha cannot be trusted, how can you trust the electronic voting machines for a voting process involving millions of electorate all over the country?” Paswan told IANS.
Paswan, a former union minister who used to win the Hajipur seat in Bihar with record margins, had lost in elections to the 15th Lok Sabha.
Terming the EVM as a tool for “administrative abuse of power” to manipulate poll results, the LJP’s June 14 resolution had expressed concern over “manipulation and misuse” of EVMs in the last election, with Paswan demanding the reintroduction of ballot papers.
Paswan said his party had encountered complaints against EVMs, ranging from their malfunctioning to their manipulation by the state government and presiding officers.
In some cases, officials cast the votes while demonstrating the use of these machines to gullible villagers, he alleged.
Paswan reiterated his doubts about EVMs a day after Advani sought the reintroduction of the good old ballot paper.
Advani, whose BJP also suffered a drubbing in the polls, had told an English daily: “We should revert to ballot papers unless the Election Commission is able to ensure that the EVMs are foolproof and every possibility of their malfunctioning is taken care of.”
rounak