MVA launches all-out offensive against EVMs

Opposition parties demand a return to the paper ballot, claim EVMs can be hacked and poll results manipulated.

It wasn’t anything they did or didn’t do; the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was responsible for their crushing defeat in the recent assembly elections. At least, that’s the narrative being advanced by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which managed only 49 seats in the 288-member House.

Pune, India -November 30, 2024: Uddhav Thackrey meet Baba Adhav during Atmclesh protest at Mahatma Phule wada in Ganj Peth in Pune, India, Saturday, -November 30, 2024-HT photo

Attributing the sweeping win for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance to EVM manipulation, the MVA is unleashing an all-out offensive against the machine, and is demanding a return to ballot papers. The three coalition partners – the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) – are planning demonstrations, a signature campaign and other events to highlight the alleged manipulation in the election results. Starting with a ten-day signature campaign by the Congress from December 1, the MVA hopes to pressure the government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to change the way we vote.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray separately met veteran activist Baba Adhav, who was on a fast to express his anguish over alleged manipulation and corrupt practices in the elections. The opposition parties received a shot in the arm when the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), which was an ally of the previous Mahayuti government but fought the recently held polls on its own, backed the MVA in their claims. Raj Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), is also likely to support the MVA on the issue.

After meeting Adhav in Pune, Pawar said on Saturday, “We had been given a presentation on how EVMs are set up. Our shortcoming was that we didn’t believe it. We never thought something so extreme would happen in the elections.” He added, “We had never doubted the ECI as an institution before. However after the results, the facts are becoming evident.”

Thackeray, who persuaded Adhav to call off his protest on Saturday, said the MVA agitation was merely a taste of what’s to come. “We are changing ‘Satyamev Jayate’ (Truth alone prevails) to ‘Sattamev Jayate’ (Power alone prevails). This agitation is just a starting point. All one needs is a spark to burn down the entire jungle, and this agitation is that spark,” Thackeray said.

“Since it is difficult to prove manipulation during voting, we will focus our demand on bringing back the ballot paper,” said a senior Congress leader. He said that during post-election discussions within the MVA, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole had suggested that the allies launch a joint offensive against using EVMs in future elections.

Pawar, on the other hand, has spoken to legal experts over possible EVM manipulation and a legal campaign against using the voting machine. “He has also planned a workshop for leaders in the coming weeks, where experts will present the legal perspective,” said an NCP (SP) insider.

Adhav alleged that the colossal sum spent on the recent elections by the Mahayuti was the highest for any elections held in the state since 1952, accusing the coalition of corrupt practices to win the polls. “We will have to find out why there was a 360-degree change in the polls results from the Lok Sabha elections to the state assembly elections,” he remarked.

The opposition parties have also asked defeated candidates to seek verification of the burnt memory in the microcontroller of the EVMs, following a Supreme Court verdict in April. As many as 29 candidates, mainly from opposition parties, have filed applications with the Election Commission in their constituencies. Interestingly, the list includes BJP candidate Ram Shinde, who lost the election to NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar from the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahmednagar. He has sought verification relating to 17 booths.

“If the exercise turns out to be futile, we will have to approach the Supreme Court,” said an MVA insider, whose view was echoed by Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut on Friday. “In case the ECI does not follow the order of the Supreme Court, we will have no choice but to approach the Supreme Court,” said Raut.

On Saturday, RSP chief Mahadev Jankar publicly claimed that the EVM is hackable and is a “danger to democracy”. Jankar, who had alleged that votes won by his party had been “transferred” to Mahayuti candidates, remarked, “I am an engineer, I know that EVMs can be hacked. In many places, Mahayuti won seats because of EVM manipulation. We believe that the country’s democracy is in danger because of EVMs. We demand that ballot papers be brought back for elections.”

The ECI has consistently denied any manipulation in the election results and that EVMS can be hacked. The commission has also invited the Congress to discuss its claim over an “inexplicable” rise in voter registration in the state as a potential electoral fraud, on December 3.