EC, state poll panel break EVM deadlock for panchayat polls

After almost two months of deadlock over procurement of multi-post EVMs for upcoming panchayat polls between the State Election Commission (SEC) and Election Commission of India ( ECI), there are indications that both sides have resolved the issue and favoured the use of general EVMs for conducting upcoming rural local bodies polls in Bihar

After almost two months of deadlock over procurement of multi-post EVMs for upcoming panchayat polls between the State Election Commission (SEC) and Election Commission of India ( ECI), there are indications that both sides have resolved the issue and favoured the use of general EVMs for conducting upcoming rural local bodies polls in Bihar.

HT Image

The development comes following talks between ECI and SEC in New Delhi on Thursday.

Sources said ECI has assured the state poll panel that it would provide EVMs ( models that are used in assembly and parliamentary polls) based on availability of the voting machines , a proposition the SEC is now open to.

“We have discussed the option of using EVMs used by ECI in assembly and general polls. It is a viable option and we will now work on it.The talks have been positive and we feel the panchayat polls would now be conducted at the earliest through EVMs,” said Yogendra Ram, secretary, SEC, on phone from New Delhi.

Sources said ECI and SEC representatives held several round of talks on Wednesday and Thursday where all issues regarding procuring of multi-post EVMs model B-3 SSDM from the ECIL (Electronic Corporation of India Limited), Bangalore, were discussed.

But the proposition was not found feasible as the ECIL has expressed its inability to provide as many as 15,000 multi-post EVMs of B-3 model in a short time owing to difficulties being faced in importing some equipment due to restrictions owing to Corona pandemic, sources said.

“ECIL has communicated it would take at least several months to provide EVMs as per specifications by SEC . That would inordinately delay the panchayat polls. This is why we feel it is feasible to use general EVMs that would be made available by ECI,” said a senior SEC functionary.

The task of holding panchayat polls through simple EVMs is said to be more challenging since polling station would require at least six EVMs for the six posts to which election would be held., which means a few lakh EVMs in the state.

“There are logistics involved. All these points would be put before the Commission,” said the SEC secretary.

In February this year, the SEC had filed a writ petition in the Patna High Court seeking judicial remedy over the ECI’s reluctance in giving permission to ECIL, Bangalore, to provide multi-post EVMs. The court, during the last two hearings, had ordered that both poll panels settle the matter amicably, even as the case is still pending.