The Hindu : National : CPI(M), JD(S) back Advani on EVM issue

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CPI(M), JD(S) back Advani on EVM issue

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani on Sunday found support from rivals Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Janata Dal (Secular), and the Lok Jan Shakti Party for his suggestion to reintroduce ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Mr. Advani said he did not doubt the results of the Lok Sabha elections, but felt the country should revert to ballot papers, starting with the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October, unless the Election Commission was able to ensure that EVMs were foolproof.

The Congress termed it an “astonishing” statement of a party searching for answers for its loss. “Advani’s comments are the most unfortunate. I hope and trust that they do not betray a lack of grace over the loss in the elections,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

The EVM controversy came to the fore when the former Delhi Chief Secretary, Omesh Saigal, in a presentation to the Commission, showed how EVMs could be programmed to manipulate results. The Commission then asked a Deputy Commissioner to probe the matter.

BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told PTI that the party was making it very clear that in the absence of any tangible proof, it was not questioning the recent Lok Sabha election results. “It is certainly expected that the Election Commission would ensure, after proper enquiry, that the EVMs are not subjected to any manipulation or malfunctioning. Till that is done, it is expected that the elections in Maharashtra, Haryana etc. will be done through ballot papers,” he said.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury told journalists here that the questions raised about the functioning of EVMs should be considered “very seriously,” especially as many countries, including developed ones, had reverted to ballot papers.

At a press conference, JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda said secrecy could not be maintained in EVMs. “This system should be abandoned. Our party, at the all-party meeting before the elections, enlisted the shortcomings of EVMs.”

LJP secretary-general Abdul Khalid also reiterated the same position. — PTI

“I have said it before”

Ananya Dutta reports from Kolkata:

Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told journalists here on Sunday that she was always circumspect about the possibility of the tampering of EVMs.

Asked for her comments on Mr. Yechury’s statement on the issue, she said: “I have said so before …But no one listens when I raise such issues.” On the subject of reverting to ballot papers, she said they were being used in panchayat polls.

She had raised the issue of the tampering of the EVMs with the Election Commission and it assured her that it was impossible to rig the new voting machines.

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