BJP, opposition make a beeline for the EC over EVMs

Leaders of 22 Opposition parties marched to the Election Commission’s office demanding that at least 50% of EVM results should be cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs).

Leaders of 22 Opposition parties marched to the Election Commission’s office on Monday, demanding that at least 50% of electronic voting machine results should be cross-checked with voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before declaring the Lok Sabha election outcome.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks to media along with CPI leader D Raja, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu after a meeting Election Commission of India, outside Election Commission Headquarters, in New Delhi on Monday. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

The poll panel also received a petition from the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Trinamool Congress for not allowing party leaders to hold contact programmes in West Bengal.

For their part, the opposition parties told EC that cross-checking of paper trail results with that of EVMs must be mandatorily carried out for at least 50% of the electronic machines, if not 100%. At present, EC does this exercise in just one booth per constituency. The parties also said a delay in the announcement of results should not be the only reason for not increasing the scope for this kind of tallying.

“If there is a difference in the counting of votes between the EVM and VPPAT, then results in counting from VVPAT should prevail,” the petition said.

The poll panel is awaiting a report from the Indian Statistical Institute on what would be the most scientific sample size for tallying votes. In a statement, EC said it heard the concerns of the representatives regarding the demands related to the counting of VVPAT slips, and assured parties that issues raised by them would be deliberated and examined.

Meanwhile, the BJP petitioned the poll panel to ensure that elections are held in fair manner in West Bengal, where the state government has not given permission to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to attend a rally.

A delegation, led by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, told media the Trinamool is rattled by BJP’s growth in that state.

The YSR Congress’s Jagan Mohan Reddy, too, reached the commission on Monday.