Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 28 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday raised concerns over the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), saying that voters must have no doubt that their votes could be diverted to or counted for another candidate, as such an occurrence would undermine faith in the democratic system.
Speaking at a press conference, Mayawati said that ensuring voters have confidence in the electoral process was crucial to protecting the democratic system.
“It is crucial that the voter harbours no doubt that their vote might have been diverted to or counted for another candidate; such an occurrence would effectively amount to the murder of democracy and would destroy the people's faith in the democratic system,” she said.
She said ballot papers were used for voting for nearly five decades after the country's first election, before the Election Commission replaced them with EVMs.
Mayawati recalled that when the Congress was in power at the Centre, the BJP had opposed EVMs and alleged that the Congress won elections by misusing the machines.
“However, surprisingly, after winning the election and forming the central govt, the BJP did not abolish EVMs; instead, it has continued the practice of voting and counting via these very machines,” she said.
Mayawati's remarks came amid the ongoing political debate over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The latest political row intensified following a report by The Indian Express, which said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months regarding decisions and procedures related to the SIR exercise and other electoral matters.
The reported objections included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said that operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process.
Earlier on Sunday, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission on Saturday, alleging that the poll body is acting as a representative of the central government rather than the citizens of India.
Targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Pawar stated that historically, election commissioners upheld the Constitution, but the present one has compromised that neutrality.
"The Election Commission is a constitutional body. Its head is not a representative of the government; rather, they represent the people of India. Past Election Commissioners genuinely represented the people and the Constitution of India. However, in the current situation, Gyanesh Kumar does not represent the people; if he represents anyone, it is the Government of India," Pawar said.