As Congress reels under crisis after its disastrous performance in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh has once again cast doubts over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), claiming it could be hacked.
Singh in a post on X said any machine with a chip can be hacked. "I have opposed voting by EVM since 2003. Can we allow our Indian Democracy to be controlled by professional hackers? This is the fundamental question that all political parties have to address. Hon ECI and Hon Supreme Court would you please defend our Indian Democracy?" read the post.
He also shared a post that talked about countries which discontinued the use of EVMs.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut too had called the victories "EVM mandate." Raut said the victory of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan doesn't reflect people's support but an EVM mandate.
"The poll results are unexpected and surprising but we respect the democratic process. When the mandate goes against your party, one has to accept it. However, the results of Madhya Pradesh are not only surprising but also shocking for us. The poll results in three of four states should be considered as the EVM mandate and it has to be accepted in that way only," Raut said.
"I dare them (BJP) to hold elections using ballot papers and we will see the outcome," he added. The Rajya Sabha member demanded the Election Commission of India (ECI) take cognizance of the people "who have doubts about the authenticity of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and the way they function".
However, the BJP took a dig at the opposition's charges on the EVM, calling it negativity. "The opposition should stop spreading this negativity. By saying there is a problem in EVM, they are disrespecting the voters also," BJP leader and Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal told ANI.
The leaders questioned why Congress never had any issues when the EVMs were used from 2004-2014. "They did not question it when they won in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. They won Telangana too. Opposition trusts neither the EVM nor the public or EC or Court. Rejecting public mandate like this shows a petty mindset," asked BJP MP Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader and INDIA bloc leader Farooq Abdullah MP said it was important to retain people's trust in the machine. "When this machine was introduced during the Congress regime, I was the Chief Minister. At that time, we had asked the Election Commission if there could be any "theft", to which they said it was possible. A method has to be found to correct this machine so that people's trust in it remains," Abdullah added.
