June 16th 2024.
On Sunday, a new political dispute erupted over allegations of EVM tampering, as opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi cited a media report claiming that a relative of the Shiv Sena candidate in Mumbai North West constituency was caught using a mobile phone connected to an EVM during the vote counting on June 4. However, the returning officer of the constituency, Vandana Suryavanshi, dismissed the report as false news and issued a defamation notice to the publication. She clarified that EVMs are standalone systems with no wireless capabilities and cannot be programmed. The BJP also criticized the opposition leaders for amplifying the false news and demanded action from the Election Commission.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and others questioned the reliability of EVMs, citing a post by Elon Musk on social media platform X. Musk had stated that EVMs should be eliminated due to the risk of hacking, referencing a post by US politician Robert F Kennedy Jr about voting irregularities in Puerto Rico. Congress ally and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also expressed doubts about the credibility of EVMs and demanded that future elections be conducted through ballot papers. Gandhi also raised concerns about the lack of transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
Responding to Musk's criticism, former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP explained that Indian EVMs are custom designed and secure, with no connectivity to any network or media. He invited Musk to learn more about the architecture of Indian EVMs and their robust security measures. Shiv Sena leaders Aditya Thackeray and Priyanka Chaturvedi also shared the news report and demanded the release of CCTV footage from the counting day.
The news report had claimed that a relative of the Shiv Sena candidate who won the election by a margin of 48 votes was found with a phone that could unlock an EVM. However, the returning officer clarified that an OTP is not needed to unlock an EVM and that the report was completely false. A case was filed against the accused, who was found to be in possession of a mobile phone at the counting center. Suryavanshi also clarified that the counting process is independent and has nothing to do with the unauthorized use of a mobile phone. She assured that all necessary safeguards were in place to prevent any manipulation and that the counting was conducted in the presence of candidates or their agents.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla demanded action against those who spread and amplified the false news, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Chaturvedi. He also pointed out that the opposition parties can file an election petition if they have any doubts about the election results. Meanwhile, BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya dismissed the news report as trash and stated that the NDA had won a third consecutive term. Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also questioned the insistence on using EVMs, given the concerns raised by experts about their vulnerability to tampering. The opposition parties had previously demanded a 100 per cent count of the VVPAT slips, which was not allowed.
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