AAP must give up alibis for losing

Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been a virtual anarchist since he burst on the political scene in Delhi some years ago promising the moon and finding fault with all manner of authority. Never hesitant about taking on the high and mighty even when he was ill-equipped with proof to nail the authorities, he made a huge impact initially with the masses who were fed up of broken promises by politicians and with belied hopes. However, along the way, many have seen through Kejriwal as a betrayer of faith and a man who has little to offer despite his deceptive assurances. Recently, when he was jolted by the results in Assembly elections in Punjab where he expected to ride to power and Goa where he thought he would emerge as a kingmaker but ended up with no seat to his party’s credit, he blamed the Election Commission, ascribing the disappointing result to electronic voting machines (EVMs) that he claimed had been tampered with to suit the BJP and apparently the Congress too.

With the reputation of the Election Commission at stake, the poll panel has castigated AAP for unsubstantiated charges and told the party to introspect as to why its performance could not match expectations. It has claimed that the EVMs are tamperproof and that on close scrutiny it has found that there is no substance in the AAP charges. The AAP had said that all over the world, resort to EVMs has been virtually discontinued and it is the ballot paper system that is in vogue, but the EC refuted this by saying that comparisons between EVMs used abroad and in India are misplaced because Indian EVMs are standalone machines and have no internet connectivity. On disquieting reports of experts having found serious flaws in EVMs the EC said no one has been able to prove tamperability of EVMs despite its challenge to them. As a matter of abundant caution, the EC has announced that it will replace over nine lakh EVMs with advanced M3 machines before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. These machines will become inoperable the moment someone attempts to tamper with them. Since AAP has not been able to prove tamperability, it is but fair that AAP leaders stop making wild allegations of rigging which is dealing a blow to the credibility of the Indian election process. That is the least that AAP can do to uphold democracy in the country.