New Delhi, March 24: The Opposition parties have decided to present a joint memorandum to Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove the misgivings and doubts on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
This decision to approach the ECI was taken in a meeting of several leaders of the Opposition parties under the leadership of Sharad Pawar.
“We want the ECI to remove the misgivings, doubts on EVMs that have been raised time to time and settle the question raised over the credibility of EVMs. We intend to have a detailed discussion on this important issue with the ECI,” Sharad Pawar told the media after the meeting.
BRS leader Keshav Rao, who also attended the meeting, said over the past eight years several questions have been raised on the working of the EVMs but the ECI has so far failed to settle these doubts. “It is high time that the ECI provide us with answers and remove the doubts,” Rao said.
He said the meeting also decided to conduct a nation-wide sustained campaign against the EVMs and other electoral malpractices. “None of the leading democracies in the world use EVMs because it is an opaque system. If they (leading democracies) can rely on ballot paper the question is why we alone should be exception,” Keshava Rao explained.
According to Rao, several leaders in the meeting pointed out that the BJP has set a wrong narrative by saying that the Opposition parties distrust EVM. ‘But the fact of the matter is that even people have expressed apprehension about the credibility of EVMs. So, it is high time that the Election Commission give answers to the voters,” he added.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bharat Rashtra Samiti, Aam Aadmi party, JD *U), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), CPM, CPI and Kerala Congress (Mani faction). The Trinamul Congress, which is the second largest Opposition party in the parliament, skipped the meeting.
“We have decided to meet again shortly to prepare the joint memorandum,’ Rao signed off.
EOM
