Accusations of EVM tampering ruffle up the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha election

Allegations of EVM tampering in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha election spark political row. EC rejects claims, and says EVMs are secure. Opposition demands probe, BJP accuses them of peddling lies.

The just concluded Lok Sabha election in the Mumbai North West constituency has been characterized by malicious features emanating from the alleged EVM manipulation. The Shiv Sena candidate, Ravindra Waikar, emerged a winner by a very close margin to the BJP candidate, with the difference being only 48 votes. However, according to a newspaper report of Mid-Day dated 13-06-2014, it was revealed that Waikar’s brother-in-law was caught using a mobile phone ‘connected’ to an EVM on June 4th while vote counting was going on.

Politicians of the opposition have recently seized on this document to attack the fairness of the Indian electoral service, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. EVMs were dubbed the “black boxes” by Gandhi, and he said that when institutions are not transparent, “democracy becomes a charade. ” Other opposition parties such as the NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) have called for an investigation and public release of the counting center's CCTV footage.

However, the returning officer of the concerned constituency, Vandana Suryavanshi, has dismissed the Mid-Day report as ‘False news’. According to Suryavanshi, EVMs are standalone machines, that are most secure and cannot be manipulated without proper OTP, and hence do not require any unlock. She admitted that a mobile phone belonging to a poll worker was recovered in the possession of some unwanted person and an FIR has been registered in this regard. Still, she denied that this is connected with the secure vote counting.

The BJP has also not spared the opposition as its spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla directly targeted Rahul Gandhi calling him a liar who thrives on lies and forgery to deflect attention from Congress wrong doing in Karnataka. The party has also called upon the Election Commission to take legal action against those who perpetuate the EVM hacking “lie”.

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With the political animosity rising high, the Election Commission is left in a position to firmly dismiss the allegations of tampering and more so offer the public full assurance of the electoral exercises’ credibility. As EVMs continue to become a subject of criticism, some opposition parties are regrouping their demands for the use of the balloting system. By what the EC does or does not do during this ‘crisis of confidence,’ the future of the perceived legitimacy of Indian democracy can be at stake.