New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned the ‘credibility’ of media reports on the Election Commission’s open challenge to prove EVM tampering.
“Why are these stories ascribed to 'sources'?" he asked, questioning why the poll panel hadn’t released an official statement on the challenge.
Why are these stories ascribed to "sources"? How credible are they? Why hasn't EC issued any formal statement? Or is it just a plant? https://t.co/Cxvu4nBUg8— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 13, 2017
The response came after reports on Wednesday that EC has decided to throw an open challenge to prove that EVMs cannot be tampered with. The exercise will apparently be taken up in the first week of May.
Speaking to CNN-News18, Election Commissioner OP Rawat said: “Since this controversy, we have been preparing to prove the truth but nothing has crystalised yet. Till the election petition period expires on April 26, the EC cannot touch the EVM, so we can’t say anything about May 1 or whatever date is being spoken about.”
“Thirteen parties came and requested an all-party meeting and the EC has agreed. So people are taking bits and pieces of information from that. The commission wants all stakeholders to have belief in the system.… Whatever is coming in the media, is just guesswork.”
Recently, there has been a growing criticism of the EVMs and the call for the return of ballot paper voting has gained momentum. Congress and AAP-led delegations had recently communicated their disapproval of EVMs to the Election Commission.
Kejriwal had recently challenged the EC to hand over an EVM to him and he will prove within 72 hours that these machines weren't fool proof and can be tampered with.
Comments
0 comment