The Congress on Saturday urged that the Election Commission (EC) revert to the old practice of paper ballots in future elections instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs). This is necessary as there are misgivings on misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict, the party said during its 84th plenary session.
BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav while reminding the Congress that it had taken the decision to shift from paper ballots to EVMs and said that BJP would ‘return to paper ballots if every party thinks so’.
He was quoted saying by ANI: “I would like to remind Congress that the decision to shift from paper ballots to EVMs was taken because of a larger consensus. Now today, if every party think that we should return to paper ballots again, after due discussion, we can consider.”
The Congress and other political parties have been alleging that EVMs were tampered during polls and demanding reintroduction of the ballot paper system of voting.
The party called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballots citing it was adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.
A resolution was also moved in this regard in the plenary session.
In its resolution, the party said the BJP's move of simultaneous elections is misplaced and is incompatible with the Constitution as also impractical.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pressing upon the idea of holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, contending that it will save money and time.
The party also resolved to adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Congress has "woken up" to the alleged misuse of EVMs more than a year after the Aam Aamdi Party had first "exposed the dangers" posed by the electronic voting machines to the parliamentary democracy of India.
Bharadwaj's reaction came hours after the Congress passed a resolution at its 84th Plenary Session here, urging the Election Commission (EC) revert to the old practice of paper ballots in future elections instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs). This is necessary as there are misgivings on misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict , the party said.
AAP chief spokesperson said that it is still a matter of satisfaction that more and more parties are coming forward to safeguard democracy.
"The AAP demands that the ECI should now immediately convene an all-party meeting on the issue of discontinuing EVMs and conducting the coming general elections through ballot papers," the party said in the statement.
It also stated "Though the Congress, which is the oldest political party in the country, has woken up more than a year after the AAP had first exposed the dangers posed by the EVMs to the parliamentary democracy of India, it is still a matter of satisfaction that more and more parties are coming forward to safeguard democracy."
