Advani says scrap EVMs

FOOLPROOF AGENDA: Advani has stressed that the EMVs are not tamper proof.

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New Delhi: BJP leader LK Advani has raised questions about electronic voting machines being tamper proof.

He has demanded that ballot boxes be re-introduced, starting with Maharashtra elections and other states later this year.

In an interview to the Sunday Indian Express, Advani said that ballot papers should be brought back to ensure fair elections.

Advani said, "We should revert to ballot papers unless the Election Commission is able to ensure that Electronic Voting Machines are foolproof and every possibility of their malfunctioning is taken care of. No one is raising any questions like rigging or malpractices in the elections, but the possibility of EVMs' malfunctioning must be addressed".

Reports suggest the Election Commission is already looking into charges of rigging through EVMs.

Advani told the paper that there is a strong possibility of the machines malfunctioning. This is the first time that a mainstream political party has raised questions over the reliability of EVMs. The issue has been re-ignited with former Delhi chief secretary Omesh Saigal claiming that "rigging of EVMs is very much possible.

Meanwhile, Congress party spokesperson Manish Tiwari cold CNN-IBN that his suggestion was a "stretch of imagination".

"The concerns of malfunctioning of EVMs have been expressed over a period of time, but to go that far as to suggest that you should scrap EVMs and revert to voting by ballot - I think is a stretch of imagination," said Tiwari.

However, BJP was quick to support Advani’s statement. BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said, “Till EVMS are found foolproof, elections in Maharashtra and Haryana should be in ballot paper.”