AAP to repeat ‘EVM demo’ at all-party meet

A three-member Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) team led by MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will participate in Friday’s all-party meeting on EVM manipulation called by the Election Commission.

A three-member Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) team led by MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will participate in Friday’s all-party meeting on EVM manipulation called by the Election Commission.

AAP supporters protest against EVM tampering outside Election Commission of India's office in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sushil Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The AAP — which protested in front of the EC headquarters on Thursday over EVM tampering — said it would ask the poll panel to form an all-party committee to look into matter. The AAP will depute two “in-house” technical experts with Bhardwaj at Friday’s meeting.

“We will demand committee consisting of representatives from all parties and the Election Commission. We would demonstrate before them EVM tampering in an on-camera proceeding. Our experts will show that their ‘so-called’ unreadable chip can be decoded to hack the machine and divert the votes,” Bhardwaj said on Thursday.

For that, he said the party would request the EC to get EVMs of any of the five polling booths. “Be it in UP, Uttarakhand or even Pune, wherever you or any party has felt doubt regarding the polling process. We will probe it, in front of you, in a controlled environment and prove the truth,” he said.

Bhardwaj, who had on Tuesday shown a live demonstration in the assembly of how an EVM look-alike could be tampered, said the party hoped the EC would announce a date for the hackathon in the all-party meeting.

The party on Thursday took its fight on EVM rigging to the commission’s doorstep. Hundreds of workers led by Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai demonstrated outside the EC headquarters demanding that voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs be used in future elections.

Rai, who met the EC director during the protest, submitted a memorandum to the poll panel. “We have given three demands to the EVMs. Apart from setting up the committee, our other two demands are that all elections be conducted only on VVPAT enabled machines and at least 25% polling booths must randomly be picked for tallying votes,” Rai said while addressing party workers after coming out of the EC headquarters.

Dozens of AAP MLAs were present at the venue following a party whip.

“The fight against EVM tampering is going to continue even after the EC meeting tomorrow. The party’s future course of action on our ‘Save Democracy’ campaign will be decided after we get to know the outcome of the EC meeting,” labour minister Gopal Rai said.