16 parties join hands to make antievm case

Congress, TMC cobble together group of parties that will ask for paper ballots for 2019 polls

NEWDELHI: Sixteen opposition parties have come together to make a fresh, concerted demand that voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections exercise their franchise by stamping the ballot paper, not pressing the button, according to leaders of several parties familiar with the developments.

Contending that electronic voting machines (EVMS), even those with voter verifiable paper audit trial (VVPATS), would not be acceptable, the parties , led by the Congress, will first hold a joint meeting on Monday, then push a discussion on the issue in Parliament, followed by a fresh appeal to the Election Commission of India (EC) over the next week, the leaders added.

ECI has maintained that EVMS are tamper proof, and that VVPATS provide an additional layer to guarantee that voting is accurately captured. It has also repeatedly urged parties to refrain from expressing doubts about their efficacy.

The latest demand to scrap EVMS underlines the aggressive mood of the Opposition camp, which has over the past year often attributed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) victories in state assembly elections to EVMS. The demand for ballot boxes has also brought an unlikely set of parties together, even those warring against each other -- the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left, the Nationalist Congress Party and the ruling National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) partner Shiv Sena, and the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress, among others. Among non-nda parties, only the AIADMK, Telangana Rashtriya Samithi and the Biju Janata Dal are not supporting the demand.

“EVM is the next big issue for

us. We want to revert to the ballot system,” TMC’S floor leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’brien announced on Thursday.

“This is not an issue of just one party. All like-minded parties are playing as a team to make this happen,” he added.

“The Congress passed a resolution in the plenary session in which it expressed preference for ballot papers because of the concerns about the EVMS. It is imperative to ensure full faith in the electoral process,” said the party’s spokesperson Rajeev Gowda.