'Election Commission is not impartial': Digvijay Singh slams EC for turning blind eye to EVM and VVPAT glitches

'We don't trust the VVPAT or EVMs or the impartiality of the Election Commission. I only trust the Supreme Court. The election should be held through ballot paper,' said Singh.

Bhopal: Former CM and congress leader Digvijay Singh has once again raked up the issue of alleged manipulation of EVM machines and Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). 

"My allegation is that the Election Commission is not impartial; it is under pressure. We expect impartiality from the Commission. All the work of EVMs is in the hands of private people. When software does everything, it will decide who will form the government," he remarked.

Digvijay Singh also gave a demo of alleged EVM malfunction. "In a country with a population of 140 crore where there are 90 crore voters, should we give the right to decide all this in the hands of such people? Its owner is the developer and installer of the software, added Singh. The Election Commission is not answering our specific questions. We are told that the VVPAT is visible for seven seconds. But what is the guarantee of printing what it shows?" he asked.

"I have seen the era of TN Seshan Saheb during my tenure as Chief Minister and expecting impartiality from the EC. If we say something, the ECI (Election Commission of India) gives notice but the same logic is not followed against leaders of BJP. Singh alleged that there will be no democracy after 2024. We don't trust the VVPAT or EVMs or the impartiality of the Election Commission. I only trust the Supreme Court. The election should be held through ballot paper. If you have so much love for EVMs, then give the VVPAT slip in the hands of the voter," he asserted.

"Why not put VVPATs in public domain on the lines of Australia? Today, there are five countries in the world where voting is done with EVMs. It is in the public domain," he said.

"ECI claims that that the software cannot be kept in the public domain because it can be misused. This is even more dangerous that the Election Commission believes it can be misused. There is no information about EVM authenticity. The VVPAT lights up for seven seconds after casting the vote," Singh contended.

Digvijay Singh along with technical expert Atul Patel gave a demo of the entire voting process, including alleged manipulation/malpractices possible.

Patel cast two votes to one symbol watermelon to show the malfunctioning of the machine. The first watermelon slip appeared in the VVPAT. Despite pressing the watermelon button, the apple slip was printed.

Earlier ECI reportedly refuted these allegations and claimed that EVM is not controlled by computer, it is not connected to internet or any other network, so it is completely safe from hacking

EVMs do not have a frequency receiver or decoder for data. It is not possible to pierce it with a wireless device, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device.

After voting, the EVMs are kept under tight security by the Election Commission, they are sealed and opened only on the day of counting. The Supreme Court has also considered EVMs as reliable instruments for elections.

The EVM i.e. Electronic Voting Machine has two units. The first control unit is CU and the second ballot unit is BU. It is connected by a five-meter cable.

During voting, the control unit is with the presiding officer or polling officer. The ballot unit is placed in the voting compartment where voters cast their votes. Before voting, the presiding officer's team checks the identity of the voter and then presses the control unit button. After this, the voter votes by pressing the blue button in front of BU and the present candidate and his election symbol. Voter verifiable paper audit trail is also VVPAT, a slip comes out confirming which candidate has been voted for, his picture and election symbol shows on the slip so that the voter knows that the vote is cast in the right place.

Digvijay Singh said that 24 parties of I.N.D.I.A Alliance had sought time from the Election Commission to meet and discuss their concerns but were not given the time.

"The Commission is under pressure from the BJP. Only the programming of software can change the process," said Singh. "The confidence that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have, in 2014, they said that they will get 272 seats, 284 seats. Yes, 300 seats will be crossed, 303 seats and now they are saying that we will cross the 400 mark. We will not allow this facists system to run," he charged.