On eve of result, BJP and opposition spar over EVMs

NEW DELHI: The ruling BJP and opposition continued to spar over EVMs on the eve of counting of votes for parliamentary polls, setting the stage for what is likely to be a rancorous start to the 17th Lok Sabha.
The counting of votes for 542 LS seats, assemblies of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, and some assembly byelections in Tamil Nadu and Goa will start on Thursday morning.The results are likely to be delayed into the evening in view of the Election Commission’s decision to tally VVPAT slips with the vote count on five EVMs in every assembly segment of a Lok Sabha constituency.
On Wednesday, the EC dismissed a petition of 22 opposition parties that VVPATS be tallied first before the EVM count. The opposition had demanded that if any discrepancy was detected in the counting of VVPAT slips, all the slips in that assembly segment should be counted. Opposition parties slammed the poll panel and alleged it had lost its credibility after it rejected their demand.
Taking exception to EC’s decision, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, “You are mandatorily obliged to tally 5 VVPAT-EVMs in one assembly segment. We said it should be done at the beginning and not at the end of the counting process. There is no rocket science in it. Logically it should be done at the beginning and not after 5, 7, 10, 14 rounds of counting. When all the results are informally known, sample check is of no use.”
Mocking the EC, Congress also said the poll panel now stood for “Eradicated Credibility”, while EVMs have come to mean “Electronic Victory Machines” for BJP.
However, the ruling camp led by BJP chief Amit Shah slammed the rivals for seeking to taint the elections out of their fear of defeat.
While the concern over EVMs were expressed right through the elections, it peaked since the exit polls on Sunday predicted that the ruling NDA was headed for a landslide and the opposition for a historic low.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the EC’s rejection of the demand to first count the VVPAT slips went against the “spirit” of a Supreme Court order delivered before polling began.