Analysis:

Putting to rest doubts about reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the mandatory paper trail count undertaken in one polling station across each of the 182 constituencies of Gujarat matched the EVM result.Polling stations where the VVPAT count was tallied with EVM result, was selected randomly through a draw of lots. Representatives of all political parties were present during the draw of lots held for every constituency.Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi said the exercise left no room for uncertainty as voters could see the paper trail of the votes cast. “For those who still harbour doubts, the option of going to court is still there,” said Quraishi.For many ex-CECs, the see-saw trends in Gujarat on Monday vindicated their faith in the EVMs. T S Krishnamurthy, N Gopalaswami, S Y Quraishi and H S Brahma — all of whom have headed the poll panel in the past — agreed that the cliffhanger result should remove all apprehensions about EVMs.Gopalaswami and H S Brahma dismissed allegations by Hardik Patel regarding tampering of EVMs in Surat, Ahmedabad and Rajkot, as “a convenient excuse for below-par performance of the Congress-led alliance”.Ex-CEC T S Krishnamurthy said those casting doubts should produce evidence to back their charges. “If they believe the EVMs have been tampered, they should go to court with the evidence and get the court to set aside the election. Vague assertions, suspicions and hallucinations won’t do,” he told TOI.Another ex-CEC who did not want to be named said doubts were anyway set to rest during the June 3, 2017 challenge organised by EC. Political Parties that had been crying foul against EVMs either declined to prove their tamperability or did not participate. This was despite the Commission allowing parties like AAP to touch and open EVMs.