Have faith in EVM, no return of ballot papers in Maha: Dy CM

Maharashtra Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar on Thursday expressed complete faith in electronicvoting machines (EVMs) and asserted the state government doesnot want the use of ballot papers in polls.

In the past, several non-BJP parties, including theCongress and the NCP, have raised doubts over the reliabilityof EVMs, claiming they are prone to manipulation.

Interacting with the media here, Pawar, a senior NCPleader, said EVMs work fine, but they become target ofcriticism from losing sides in elections.

Before resigning recently as Maharashtra Assemblyspeaker, Nana Patole, now state Congress president, had askedthe legislature to frame a law to give voters the option ofusing ballot papers besides EVMs in local governing bodies andAssembly polls.

Patole, as the speaker, had issued the instructionduring a meeting held earlier this month after complaintsabout alleged EVM tampering in polls.

When asked about Patole's instruction, Pawar said,''Each individual can have a different view. They think thatway and I have said what I feel (about the use of EVMs).'' Speaking about the government's official stand on theissue, Pawar said the MVA dispensation, in which the Shiv Senaand the Congress are the other two constituents, ''absolutelydoes not'' want the use of ballot papers.

The senior NCP leader noted the Congress formedgovernments in Rajasthan (in 2018) and Punjab (2017) even whenEVMs were used in the Assembly polls held in the two states.

''Everything is fine with people in any party if theyget majority. But they start alleging that EVMs were managedif they get routed...EVMs are working fine. Work becomespaperless. What I can say, I have complete faith in EVMs,''Pawar said.

Asked about media reports of a recent forensic studyby a US-based digital firm which claimed that key evidence was''planted'' on computer of activist Rona Wilson, arrested in theElgar Parishad-Maoist links case, Pawar said he does not haveinformation about it.

The deputy chief minister, however, said the stance ofthe Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is that no innocentperson should be troubled in any case.

Action will be taken against the guilty, if any, asper the law and the Constitution, he said.

The chief minister and key people in the governmentwill take a decision on whether an SIT needs to be formed toprobe into the allegation of evidence planting, Pawar said.

The deputy chief minister trashed speculation aboutthe BJP and the NCP getting closer after Union Home MinisterAmit Shah's visit to the Konkan region, a Shiv Senastronghold, on Sunday.

''There is absolutely no truth in it,'' Pawar added.

''it is a new information that has come to me from themedia. We will check if something of that sort has happened.

We will take decisions after doing so (examining theinformation),'' Pawar said sarcastically.

The NCP leader said no one should pay attention tosuch discussions.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Pune, former chiefminister Devendra Fadnavis questioned the veracity of a reportof the US-based digital firm which has claimed key evidencewas ''planted'' on the computer of Wilson.

The BJP leader said in the first paragraph of itsreport, the firm has said ''they are being employed'' by theactivist who is currently in jail.

''So it is neither an independent report nor was itsent by the government to any forensic agency in the US,''Fadnavis said, adding that central agencies have rejected thereport.