The Election Commission of India has denied all charges of EVM tampering, maintaining that full integrity and reliability are inherent in the machines. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced dates for the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections and said during a press conference that EVMs have stood the test of judicial scrutiny on each and every occasion-a total of 42 times-and earned the confidence of the highest courts of the land.
The elections in the Delhi Assembly are due on February 5, and the counting of votes will be on February 8. Kumar said EVMs cannot be tampered with, adding that allegations of rigging and hacking are ill-founded. Kumar described these allegations as “baseless,” while reiterating the commitment of the ECI to openness and accountability on all aspects of the election process.
“EVMs cannot be tampered with. Each and every charge of manipulation has been enquired into and found to be false. This technology has always passed the test of free and fair elections,” he said. “The judiciary has given a thumbs-up to EVMs on more than one occasion. These machines represent decades of technological achievement and are a source of national pride.”
He also replied to the growing concern that was reported regarding the manipulation of voter lists, an issue that had been growing acrimoniously before the Delhi Assembly elections. Various political parties cited discrepancies in the voter rolls pointing to wrongful deletion and addition; among them are Aam Aadmi Party and Congress.
In response, Kumar said the ECI follows stringent procedures for any revision in the electoral rolls. “The preparation of electoral rolls is an entirely transparent process, which involves political parties at every stage,” he said. “These allegations are unfounded. Transparency is our fundamental principle, and comprehensive guidelines and datasets are readily available on our website.”
He further said that the ECI ensures full disclosure and provides opportunities for objections at every step in the preparation of the voter list. “All deletions and additions are carried out as per the law. There is no scope for manipulation,” he added.
Amid these discussions, the AAP has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of orchestrating deletions in areas where the party enjoys a strong voter base. AAP leader and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had claimed in December that the BJP wanted to delete more than 11,000 names from the voter list in the Shahdara Assembly segment. He also claimed that a similar “Operation Lotus” was being carried out in his own constituency, New Delhi. The BJP has denied these allegations, accusing AAP of adding fictitious names to the lists in order to make its support appear stronger.
