Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
Generally, after the election results are declared, questions are raised on EVMs and the Election Commission, but with the announcement of election dates, questions were raised on EVMs. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that even though the election dates have been announced in Maharashtra, it is welcome, but the opposition parties do not have faith in EVMs because what happened in Haryana can happen in Maharashtra also. . Sanjay Raut said that the Election Commission will have to prove its impartiality in the Maharashtra elections.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi also repeated the same allegation. He said that Israel hacked Hezbollah’s pager and carried out blasts in Lebanon, Israel is expert in hacking and Modi has good relations with Israel, hence BJP can also hack EVM with the help of Israel. Rashid Alvi said that all opposition parties in Maharashtra should demand elections through ballot paper instead of EVM. But Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar answered in detail every question raised on EVM and election process. Rajeev Kumar said that nowhere in the world is there a transparent election process like India, yet those who raise questions raise new issues every time. Those who are linking the hacking of pager with EVM, they do not even know that EVM is not connected to the internet or any satellite. What answer should he give to such people?
Rajiv Kumar said that as far as the complaints made regarding Haryana elections are concerned, there are no concrete allegations in any of the complaints. The Election Commission will respond to each complaint separately. Since questions were raised regarding the battery of EVM during the counting of votes in Haryana, Rajiv Kumar explained the entire process. He said that when the battery is inserted in the EVM, it is also signed by the candidates or their representatives, the numbers of the EVMs sent to each polling booth are also given to the candidates. Whenever the seal of EVM is opened, the candidates are also present at that time. After this, where does the question of any kind of manipulation arise?
In my opinion, those who are raising questions on EVMs even before the elections will have to answer a lot of questions – was the EVM fine in the Lok Sabha elections and was it hacked in Haryana? Did EVMs work fine in Karnataka and Himachal and glitch in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh? Who would believe such things?
Today it has to be told once again that EVM machine is like a calculator. It has no connection to the Internet, Bluetooth, or any other remote device. The battery size of the EVM is written in the form at the time of closing the machine, which is signed by the candidate or his agent.
Secondly, in such a big country where thousands of EVMs are used, where lakhs of government employees are involved in the election process, how can anyone hack a machine? And if someone does manipulation then how can this thing remain hidden? There are victories and defeats in elections, but holding the Election Commission responsible for one’s defeat or raising the question of EVM machine seems childish. The Election Commission is a constitutional institution. If questions are raised on constitutional institutions without evidence, it will harm our democracy. (Rajat Sharma)
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