INDIA Bloc Challenges EVM Integrity in Supreme Court

The INDIA bloc, led by prominent leaders like NCP's Sharad Pawar and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, plans to take legal action over alleged EVM tampering during Maharashtra elections. However, electoral officials maintain the machines are secure and unhackable, with procedures ensuring accurate vote tallying.

In a significant political move, the INDIA bloc has declared its intention to approach the Supreme Court over allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections. The announcement was made by Prashant Sudamrao Jagtap of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SCP), following a high-level meeting attended by key figures like Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Jagtap expressed trust in the Supreme Court's ability to rule in favor of the INDIA alliance concerning what he described as a 'scam' in ensuring the BJP-led alliance's victory. He noted that the claimed anomalies involve an increase in vote counts and manipulation of EVMs and VVPATs. All parties within the INDIA alliance are set to approach the court, hopeful of justice, said Jagtap.

Conversely, Maharashtra's electoral officials, including Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni, refuted the claims of EVM vulnerability. Kulkarni emphasized that EVMs are standalone machines with one-time programmable chips, nullifying possibilities of hacking or tampering. He reiterated the Election Commission's process of cross-referencing VVPAT slips with EVM results to prevent discrepancies. Support for the machines' integrity was further asserted by Chief Election Officer S Chockalingam, who reported no mismatches between VVPAT slips and EVM results.

(With inputs from agencies.)