Amid the EVM-hacking fiasco triggered by a press conference by a US-based ‘expert’, Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora at an event in Delhi, on 24 January, clarified that “we are not going back to the era of ballot papers.”
Earlier, Electronic Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) in a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) had said Syed Shuja, the self-proclaimed cyber expert who made explosive claims in London over EVMs and election rigging in India was never an employee of the corporation.
Meanwhile, the ECI had written to the Delhi Police requesting them to lodge an FIR and investigate the statement made by Shuja.
Shuja, in a press conference held in London on Monday, 21 January had claimed to be a part of ECIL, the corporation that designed the EVMs used in Indian elections. He had also claimed that the EVMs could be hacked and the 2014 general elections in India were rigged.
- In the press conference, Shuja alleged that 2014 Lok Sabha elections were rigged and Congress lost 201 seats in 2014 because of the tampering
- He also claimed that Gopinath Munde was murdered as he was aware of EVM hacking
- He also claimed that slain journalist Gauri Lankesh agreed to run the story for him, but she was killed
- Shuja said that other than the BJP, the SP, BSP and the AAP too approached him to know if EVMs could be hacked
- He said he fled India in 2014 because he felt threatened in the country after the killing of some of his team members
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Not Going Back to Ballot-Paper Era: Chief Election Commissioner
Amid the EVM-hacking fiasco triggered by a press conference by a US-based ‘expert’, Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora at an event in Delhi, on 24 January, clarified that “we are not going back to the era of ballot papers”.
Use of EVMs Perfectly Fine: Nitish Kumar
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the use of EVMs were “perfectly fine” as long as the VVPATs are there at every booth.
“EVM is perfectly fine and when there will be VVPAT at every booth, then there will be no problem at all. I don’t agree with the things that are being said related to EVM.”Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM
AAP Calls for Ballot Papers During 2019 Polls
The Aam Admi Party (AAP) on Wednesday, 23 January, called for ballot papers to be used in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, following the allegations against EVMs.
The party has also exhorted all opposition parties to boycott the polls if their demand was not paid heed to, reported IANS.
Didn't Want to See the Hackathon: Former CEC
Former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla said that he did not see the press conference in London.
“I didn't see this hackathon in London and didn't want to see it either, as EVM used there wasn't of Election Commission. ECI's EVMs are manufactured in secret conditions, are being used since 2006, and yield different results,” he said.