Former President Pranab Mukherjee asks Election Commission to put to end speculation of EVM mischief alleged by Opposition parties: Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to put an end to the allegations of EVM tampering, levelled by the Opposition parties after the exit polls predicted an easy win for the NDA-led by BJP. He said that he is concerned at reports of alleged tampering of voters’ verdict in the Lok Sabha elections that ended on May 19. In a statement, he said that the safety and security of EVMs which are in the custody of the EC is the responsibility of the Commission.
The former president asserted that there can be no room for speculation that challenges the very basis of country’s democracy, adding that people’s mandate is sacrosanct and has to be above any iota of reasonable doubt. His statement comes after a series of purported videos clips went viral on the social media, which the Opposition parties alleged that EVMs were tampered with and transported in private vehicles without any security in of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab.
A video showing EVMs being put in a storage unit without any security led to much scepticism on social media. The social media users have also expressed concern about the handling of EVMs. The issue is currently trending with hashtags #EVMHacking#EVMs on the Twitter with netizens raising questions over the EC.
Reacting to the allegations, the EC on Tuesday said that the polled EVMs are safe, sealed in strong rooms and under security cover, adding there is no possibility of changing EVMs.
Earlier, the prediction of exit polls showing Prime Miniter Narendra Modi’s return to power with a thumping majority shook the entire opposition camp. The rivals of BJP were pretty much sure that they would dethrone PM Modi.
In a bid to decide the future course of action, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and other leaders
Both Naidu and Mamata rejected the poll predicts of pollsters. Naidu said that time and again these polls have failed to catch the People’s pulse. He asserted that exit polls have proved to be incorrect and far from ground reality in many instances. While Mamata alleged that the game plan behind exit polls is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip.
