Pol parties sceptical about remote EVMs for migrants

Ranchi: Political parties in Jharkhand are sceptical of the Election Commission’s recent proposal to introduce multi-constituency EVM machines to facilitate remote voting of migrants.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the largest party in the governing coalition government in the state, said it remains to be seen whether the EVM machines would be free of manipulation.
“Our party representative will attend the EC’s demonstration of the remote voting machines (RVM) in New Delhi on January 16. But since it will be a mobile unit, it remains to be seen whether it would be free from the scopes of possible manipulation of votes. We will make our observation only after that,” JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
Ajsu party, which is in an alliance with the BJP in Jharkhand, has welcomed the move. Devsharan Bhagat, its spokesperson, said RVM will enable a large chunk of people from Jharkhand to exercise their franchise. “Voting is a fundamental right of the citizens and lakhs of them miss out due to work or studies. But there is a scope for forgery. To avoid false voting, the EC must also ensure that a list of voters who will be voting remotely is published,” Bhaghat said.
Echoing sentiments of JMM and the Ajsu party, the state unit of the Congress also demanded that the EC must ensure credibility in the new system. “The Congress has from time to time flagged potential misuse of the EVMs. This is a welcome move, but the EC has to ensure credibility in the new process,” party’s state spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha said the EC’s move is a carefully thought out move to increase the voting percentage and conduct an inclusive election. “Political parties which have doubts will have a chance to get it cleared during the day of demonstration. The BJP welcomes the move and other parties too must support it if they are convinced,” Sinha added.
According to estimates chalked out by various political parties, roughly 20% of all eligible voters in Jharkhand miss out on voting because of migration for work and studies.