House panel to examine complaints of EVM tampering

The issue was earlier raised by Opposition parties in Parliament, particularly in Rajya Sabha, amid intense sparring between members of the treasury and the Opposition

After ruckus for days in Parliament over alleged “manipulation and tampering” of EVMs, the issue will now be taken up by a parliamentary committee, which will deliberate on multiple aspects of electoral reforms starting this month.

Sources told The Indian Express that the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice headed by Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma has taken up the matter and is set call before it senior officials from Election Commission and Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances soon to take a view on complaints regarding the tamperability of EVMs.

“We will not confine only to EVMs. The panel intends to examine the entire gamut of the issue of electoral reforms and hence will take a comprehensive view on all issues including the demand for voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), complaints of EVM manipulation coming from various states and the issue of electoral funding,” said sources in the panel.

The 31-member panel headed by Sharma has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

The issue was earlier raised by Opposition parties in Parliament, particularly in Rajya Sabha, amid intense sparring between members of the treasury and the Opposition. Raised in the backdrop of election results in five states in which BJP formed government in four, the issue has seen parties like SP, BSP, Congress and AAP raising doubts about the EVMs. “We will strive to submit the report to Parliament during the Monsoon Session this year,” said sources in the panel.

Meanwhile, confronted with allegations of EVM tampering, the EC has decided to soon throw an “open challenge” to test the infallibility of EVMs — the second such exercise in the EC’s history after first open challenge was conducted in 2009 when similar doubts were raised.

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