Former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat has said that demonetisation had no impact on black money and that “a record amount of money was seized during elections.” He also said the amount of money seized shows that during elections, money comes from sources which are “influential” and not affected by demonetisation.
Earlier, on Sunday, 2 December, speaking to The Indian Express, Rawat said in the ongoing Assembly elections, seizures have been “close to 200 crores.”
OP Rawat was appointed Chief Election Commissioner in January 2018 and his term came to an end on 1 December 2018. He handed over the reins to his successor, the new CEC Sunil Arora.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Rawat also spoke about the challenge of simultaneous elections. He said that first India needs a change in legal framework, to sync the assemblies. Furthermore, speaking to the daily, he also laid down the logistical challenge in simultaneous elections and indicated that with the addition of EVMs, simultaneous elections could lead to loss of money, rather than saving costs.
Commenting on the EVMs malfunctioning debate, Rawat said in his tenure he had never come across an instance of EVM tampering. He also reiterated that the Indian EVM is “unique” and that most political parties in the country have faith in the functioning of EVMs. He also spoke to The Indian Express about social media as a “potent threat” to elections – in India and also across the world.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and ANI)
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