Priyank Kharge joins Rahul Gandhi, urges EC to facilitate court-monitored hackathon of EVMs

Karnataka’s IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday urged the election commission to facilitate a court-monitored ethical hackathon and a rigorous technical audit of EVMs offering the help of the state’s robust tech ecosystem as he joined AICC leader Rahul Gandhi’s campaign for disclosure of poll-related data of recent elections.

Kharge, in a post on X, said he had, in December last year, proposed a court monitored ethical hackathon, a rigorous technical audit of EVMs involving premier academic institutions and reputed private technology R&D players. “Karnataka is home to the world’s fourth largest technology cluster and our ecosystem is well-positioned to examine the entire EVM architecture, from hardware and software to vote recording and counting, under judicial and academic oversight.”

The congress minister in his post said that in view of the ongoing and much-needed debate on electoral integrity, prompted by recent findings from the Maharashtra elections by Rahul Gandhi, he felt it was important to share the concerns and possible remedy he had formally raised with the Election Commission.


“In my letter dated December 3, 2024, to the Commissioner, I had detailed several concerning instances, from mismatched vote counts and inconsistencies in electoral rolls to unusual turnout percentages, missing EVMs and vulnerabilities in VVPATs and control units. I also flagged procedural gaps that raise serious concerns about the integrity of the electoral process,” he said.

Kharge said it was disappointing that the ECI had not responded to this proposal yet. “I urge the Commission to act with urgency and allow the audit we have offered in good faith.”