Opposition parties that had gathered in Kolkata in a show of unity on Saturday, 19 January, set up a four-member committee on electoral reforms after alleging that the ruling BJP had been "manipulating" the EVMs.
In addition to evaluating the functioning of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and finding ways to stop any malpractice, the committee will suggest electoral reforms to the Election Commission before the Lok Sabha polls, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said, PTI reported.
The announcement was made after the West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief hosted a tea party in Kolkata for the top leaders of 14 Opposition parties who had participated in her united Opposition rally.
The committee, comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Satish Mishra (Bahujan Samaj Party) and Arvind Kejriwal (Aam Aadmi Party) will submit its recommendations to the EC for implementation and will press for wider use of VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail), she said.
EVMs are ‘Chor Machines’
National Conference (NC) Chairman Farooq Abdullah had called the EVMs "chor machines" while speaking at the rally and demanded that the ballot paper system be reinstated for the sake of transparency.
"The EVM is a chor machine. Honestly speaking, it is so. Its use must be put to an end. Nowhere in the world is the machine used," he said, as per PTI.
"The Opposition parties should approach the Election Commission and the President of India to stop the use of the EVM and bring back the old ballot papers for the sake of transparency," he added.
Speaking after the meeting with Banerjee, Abdullah had said, "Time is short and hence we want the election panel to carry out reforms expeditiously for the sake of democracy in the country. Our Constitution is under threat.”
“We want free and fair elections. We will never accept if election is held in fraudulent manner,” he added.
Stressing that very little time was left for the Lok Sabha polls, Congress’ Singhvi said, "We are not asking for returning to the physical ballot system immediately".
The VVPAT system should be enforced for proper verification of the ballots, he said, adding that already four European countries have gone back to the use of physical ballots.
BSP’s Mishra, meanwhile, said there were reports of EVM tampering in the recent state Assembly elections in the country.
"Hence, we believe it is necessary to go for electoral reforms".
Congress’ Unease
The four-member committee, however, could prove to be an uncomfortable mix for the Congress.
The Rahul Gandhi-led outfit shares strained relations with its Delhi rival AAP, and can hardly hold its own among the other rivals-turned-allies in Uttar Pradesh, who kept the party out of the recently formed grand coalition in the state.
Banerjee’s anti-BJP “United India” rally at Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday had seen representation from most of the non-NDA parties across the country. The ruling parties of Odisha and Telangana, BJD and TRS respectively, were the only big non-NDA parties that were not a part of the rally.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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