Delhi polls: No allegation of EVM tampering yet

New Delhi: For the first time since 2017, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been one of the most vocal critic of EVMs/VVPATs, has not alleged any manipulation of these machines and the election process.

The silence is telling as the party had always highlighted the risk of manipulation of these machines and one of its MLAs had even demonstrated how this is allegedly done in the Delhi assembly in May 2017. Incidentally, the Congress—another EVM sceptic –– has also maintained a studied silence on the issue this time despite being wiped out in the Delhi polls.

AAP’s position on EVMs, however, has been consistent even till a day after Delhi voted on February 8. On February 9, AAP MLA Sanjay Singh tweeted videos of EVMs being transported and alleged their possible manipulation. The same day, Kejriwal cast doubts over the sanctity of the election process with his tweets on the delay in announcement of the final voter turnout.

“Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?” the CM tweeted. The Election Commission of India (ECI) held a press conference in the evening blaming procedural issues for the delay. However, no one from AAP raised the EVM/VVPAT issue since February 11 when AAP swept the Delhi polls.

While it is unclear if AAP has revised its position on EVM/VVPATs after its February 11 win, its MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, who had demonstrated how EVMs could be tampered with, said AAP’s Delhi victory was not at odds with its opposition to the machine.

“Anyone who understands technology, understands that every chip, every machine is open to manipulation and tampering. AAP’s win in Delhi is after-all small in scale vis-a-vis the entire country. There is psychological manipulation involved here and it may not be done every single time. I maintain that EVMs are vulnerable. I am not saying that there is the threat of manipulation by BJP alone –– there could be foreign forces tomorrow –– Russia or any other country. This vulnerability of EVMs has to be assessed and acted upon in the interest of democracy,” Bhardwaj told ET.

“Think of it like a bus which is infamous for pickpockets. My pocket gets picked when I board it, my neighbour and his friend also face the same. But when Modi or Amit Shah boards the bus, it doesn’t happen. Because, if everyone’s pocket was picked, it would be open and armed dacoity, which is undeniable,” Bharwaj added. He pointed out that while EC imported chips for EVMs from developed nations, none of these countries used voting machines, but used paper ballot instead.

While Kejriwal first raised doubts about EVMs in 2015 Delhi polls itself, the AAP’s campaign against EVMs/VVPATs became more vociferous from March 11, 2017 when election results to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa were announced.

While Mayawati was the first to point fingers at EVMs after the UP results, Kejriwal sought the EC’s intervention alleging foul play in Punjab saying this posed a “big question mark on the reliability of EVMs”. He demanded that Delhi civic polls be conducted through paper ballot instead of EVMs.

The ECI shot back asking the party to ‘introspect’ on its own poll performance instead. “It is for your party to introspect as to why your party could not perform as per your expectations and it is unfair on the part of your party to attribute unsatisfactory poll performance to the alleged tamperability of EVMs. The commission is fully satisfied with the functioning of EVMs,” the poll panel wrote to AAP in April 2017.

Reacting to the AAP MLA demonstrating in the Delhi assembly how EVMs could be tampered with, the EC had said that anyone could demonstrate any ‘magic or tampering’ of an EVM ‘look-alike’ electronic gadget but this cannot be exploited to influence the intelligent electorate or ‘vilify’ the EC-EVM. Following an all-party meeting on May 12, on June 3, 2017, the ECI held an ‘EVM Hacking’ challenge for all political critics.

The most vocal critics –– AAP, Congress, SP and BSP –– declined to participate. Only NCP sent its members to participate. That did not put the controversy or the critics to rest. It, in fact, went to court ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The muted or no criticism of EVMs has been seen since the recent round of assembly elections –– from Maharashtra to Haryana, Jharkhand and now Delhi –– all of which have shown a resurgent Opposition.