So, lots of drama in the Delhi assembly today!
AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj brought an Electronic Voting Machine ‘prototype’ (NOT an actual EC-issued EVM, mind you), and demonstrated how the machine could be tampered with. Bhardwaj fed a code to the EVM which resulted in a discrepancy between votes polled and the result.
But along with the AAP ‘exposé’ come a few questions:
- How credible is AAP's exposé if the machine used was not procured from the Election Commission?
- Is there a “secret code” for each of the 17.12 lakh EVMs in the country?
- If each EVM has a unique “secret hacking code” and has to be hacked separately, then is AAP implying that the EC colludes with political parties, providing them with all the time and access to the EVMs to hack them at leisure?
- Did EC collude with AAP in Delhi? With Congress in Punjab? With BJP in UP?
Other than these unanswered questions, there have naturally been a lot of political reactions. Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra said:
Even we came to power in Delhi with the same EVMs. Arvind Kejriwal is being an ostrich and running away from the truth that he is not popular among the people of Delhi anymore.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari also addressed a press conferrence and talked about AAP giving false information to the Income Tax Department. The Election Commission’s response, however, was something we’ve heard several times – come to our hackathon and tamper with the EVMs there.
But in the end, what matters is the people and how they feel about this issue. So c’mon EC, give us the truth – not smokescreens or sensationalism.
(Read more here.)
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