New Delhi: EVMs and VVPATs being demonstrated during an all-party meeting convened by the Election Commission to discuss the reliability of the EMs in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Photo

The Election Commission (EC) is under vicious attack from some political parties and leaders, particularly Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, over the use of EVMs for elections. However, while patiently bearing the onslaughts, EC has sought to effectively counter all the charges.

Ever since the results of the recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur and of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been declared, AAP leaders, BSP supremo Mayawati, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leaders raised question mark over EVMs.

Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati were outright vocal in declaring that EVMs had been rigged in the recently-held Assembly elections. Congress and Mamata Banerjee too lent their support and expressed doubts over the non-tampering of EVMs.

Arvind Kejriwal went to the extent of alleging that EC was biased and was acting under the orders of the Narendra Modi government. He also accused EC of "helping BJP win elections". He charged that the software of the EVMs could be hacked and demanded the machines for 72 hours to prove the claim.

The AAP government in Delhi even convened on May 9 a one-day special Assembly session where party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj sought to prove through demonstration on a look-alike EVM unit that the mother machines could be rigged.

However, EC has been maintaining the dignity of a constitutional body. It has been patiently putting up with all the allegations and innuendos. While the volleys of Arvind Kejriwal, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee and some Congress leaders may be caustic, wild, irresponsible and even personal, EC's response has been quite measured and sobre but strong.

These are the manners in which EC has kept the interests of the nation above all else:

ALL-PARTY MEET

Facing criticism from AAP and some other opposition parties, EC decided to convene an all-party meeting today to elicit suggestions from them on EVMs. They invited technical experts too besides the representatives of seven national parties and 48 state parties.

Sources said, "EC would note all the doubts and concerns of the leaders and address all of them. After all, we shall ensure that the sanctity of this constitutional body remains intact. We do not want to leave an iota of scope for tampering the EVMs."

The sources in EC further said, "Our objective is to help in the progress of the nation. We want that the trust of all the political parties, politicians and the people to prevail. None of us has any personal agenda. Country comes before anything else."

FAST ADDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCES WITH FACTS AND EVIDENCES

EC officials said they seek to promptly redress the grievances by furnishing facts and evidences. EC does not address the complaints without evidences. "However, we are yet to be proven wrong. All allegations which have been made so far have vanished in thin air after verifying with facts and figures," they said.

For instance, they said, the claims of an independent candidate who contested the February 21 BMC poll, about "disappearance of votes" cast by him and his family members have turned false. Shrikant Shirsat, who contested from the Saki Naka municipal ward (No. 164) in suburban Mumbai had said that he had voted for himself and so had his family members. However, he claimed that had he had polled zero votes

The Commission held a probe into the allegations and found that Shrikant Shirshat's allegations were far away from truth. Though Shirshat stood for election from ward number 164 in Saki Naka, he is enrolled as a voter at two polling booths. This, in itself, is illegal. Besides, contrary to his claims, he has not got zero votes at either of the two polling booths.

EC also dubbed as "baseless and incorrect" media reports that claimed there was a mismatch in the votes cast and votes registered in the Dholpur Assembly bypoll held on April 9. It refuted reports that the votes given to one party were going to another party.

The Commission said only two EVMs out of the 231 deployed had to be changed due to technical problems during the polling. Moreover, there was no complaint of mismatch in voting from anywhere.

IMMEDIATE AND POTENT RESPONSE

The Commission has been found to be quite prompt in issuing rejoinders or clarifications to any allegations or complaints. For instance, whenever AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has leveled any serious allegations, EC has been quick to issue a rejoinder in a bid to set the record straight.

Recently, the Commission swiftly retorted to AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj's May 9 demonstration on EVM. It released a hard-hitting statement the same day and said, "The Election Commission, through media, has learnt about a so called demonstration of tampering of 'look-alike' EVM. In this context it should be understood that it is possible for anyone to make any electronic gadget which 'looks-like' ECI's EVM and demonstrate any magic or tampering.

"Very simply put, any 'look-alike'' machine is just a different gadget, which is manifestly designed and made to function in a 'tampered' manner and has no relevance, incidence or bearing on the Commission's EVMs. It is commonsense that gadgets other than ECI EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI's EVMs will behave in the same manner because they are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol," it said.

The Commission concluded that the so called demonstration on extraneous and duplicate gadgets which were not owned by it could not be exploited to influence "our intelligent citizens and electorate to assail or vilify the EVMs used by the Commission in its electoral process".

ELECTION COMMISSIONER OP RAWAT RECUSES

Arvind Kejriwal is now known for making sweeping statements, wild allegations and blunt personal attacks without verifying the truth. Recently, Kejriwal had reportedly said he did not believe in the independence of two Commissioners, AK Joti and OP Rawat.

Regarding Rawat, Arvind Kejriwal said since he came from Madhya Pradesh and has been very close to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he could not be trusted.

Election Commissioner Rawat immediately recused himself from cases pertaining to AAP which the Commission is hearing, one of them being the case for disqualification of 21 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit.

However, Rawat was not bound to recuse from cases of AAP because Arvind Kejriwal's allegations were baseless. Rawat is an IAS officer of the MP cadre and he retired from service in December, 2014. But he was never close to Chouhan. In fact, Chouhan was not favourably disposed towards him.

Rawat knew that Chouhan would not allow him to become chief secretary of the state and, hence, he applied for empanelment at the Centre. He also got an opportunity to come on deputation to the national capital. However, Chouhan stopped him from leaving MP saying "I have some plans for you".

Rawat stayed back thinking Chouhan had changed his mind and would promote him to the coveted post. But when time came in 2012, Rawat was superseded by his junior R Parshuram for the chief secretary's post. Peeved over the development, Rawat came down to the capital.

However, Kejriwal made a wild and baseless allegation to serve his purpose. However, he sought to defame the integrity of a government servant who could not defend himself in public.

However, in the larger interest of the Commission, Rawat recused himself so that AAP not only gets justice but is also seen as getting justice.

MAINTAINING ELECTION COMMISSION'S IMAGE GLOBALLY

For the Commission and its senior officers, the sanctity of the constitutional body is above all else. "Even we want that there should be no scope for tampering the EVMs. It is constant endeavour that the image of the Commission as an independent, efficient and unbiased election watchdog is not tarnished a bit," the sources said.

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