Opposition leaders on Wednesday slammed the Election Commission for rejecting their demand to count the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips from randomly selected five polling stations in each Assembly segment prior to counting the electronic voting machine tallies.
The Congress called the EC order an unfortunate one. It said the poll panel had ignored a demand from representatives of 75% of the electorate.
Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the plea to check the sample before counting the rest, was to rule out foul play. “If the sample is poisoned, that entire universe could also be similarly poisoned.”
“Our demand was only logical,” he added.
Mr. Singhvi termed the Election Commission the “Omission Commission” and the EVMs “Electronic Winning Machines” for the BJP. “There must be some fear or hesitation to refuse our demand,” he alleged.
‘Sad pass’
The EC, he said, is discriminating against the Opposition parties and favouring only Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
“This is a sad pass for a Constitutional body,” he added.
The Trinamool accused the Election Commission of working at the behest of the ruling party. “Instead of instilling confidence among the people about the electoral processes, the EC has become a paid servant of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” Trinamool leader Derek O’ Brien said.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the EC’s order was against the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling of May 7.
“If the process has been so long drawn for the sake of integrity of the electoral process, why is the EC not adhering to the basic principle of testing the sample first,” he questioned in a tweet. “Integrity of EVMs by matching with sample VVPATs has to be done at the start of counting. Doing so after the trends are declared makes it infructuous and is likely to lead to protests and a possible law and order situation from the affected candidates.”
CPI leader D. Raja said it was wrong to say that the order was a blow to the Opposition parties, it actually was a blow to Indian democracy.
“The Election Commission is a Constitutional body which should act independently and neutrally. Their mandate is not only to ensure free and fair polling but also maintain the integrity of the process,” Mr. Raja said.
