Home Minister alleges EVMs hacked selectively in Maharashtra polls

Alleging that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were hacked selectively in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Sunday said his party leaders were surprised over the information that they got about “EVM hacking”. 

Dr. Parameshwara, who was also the AICC observer for Maharashtra elections, told presspersons that his party leaders, including former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, discussed the EVM issues and were planning to appeal to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in this regard. “We are now sure that till the EVMs are used, there is no hope for the Congress or any other party other than the BJP. There is an urgent need to return to ballot papers,” he said.

“On analysing the poor performance of the Congress and the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra on Saturday, we found surprising information about EVMs being hacked selectively. They are not doing this in every constituency but in large States that are politically and financially important for them,” he said.

“Although we have appealed to the Election Commission about this in the past too, they did not consider our request on the need to return to ballot papers. When the Supreme Court and the ECI do not accept our allegations, where do we go?” he said, pointing out that many foreign countries, including the U.S., have done away with EVMs.

Published - November 24, 2024 09:11 pm IST