NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday took a divergent position from his party’s stance over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) following the party’s poor showing in Maharashtra’s assembly elections.
While Tharoor defended the reliability of EVMs, he expressed concerns about possible manipulation within the electoral system.
“It’s not the “machines” that are the issue, but the “machinery” of the electoral process,” he said.
“I have never joined those who alleged that EVMs could be tampered with; I believe they are a vast improvement on paper ballots,” Tharoor wrote in a post on X. However, he questioned whether entire EVM machines could be illegitimately added to the counting process, leading to inflated voter turnout figures.
“The charges made here raise serious and legitimate questions that @ECISVEEP MUST answer. Their silence on the subject is baffling and discredits the entire process that supports and legitimizes our democracy,” he said.
Whilst maintaining his position, Tharoor clarified that reverting to paper ballots isn’t the solution.
“The Election Commission has a constitutional duty to set the public’s minds at rest,” he said.
The MP’s stance notably differs from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s position, who advocatefor paper ballots. Kharge claimed that the votes of marginalised communities, including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), were being disregarded in the current system.
“We don’t want EVMs. Let them stay in Modi’s or Amit Shah’s godowns in Ahmedabad. Just hold elections on paper ballots, and you will see where you stand,” Kharge said.
In the Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance achieved a resounding victory, securing 236 out of the 288 seats—a commanding two-thirds majority. In contrast, the opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), managed to win only 48 seats, marking a lackluster performance and paving the way for Mahayuti’s historic triumph.
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