Shreyas S P

Engineer | Centrist Thinker | Agnostic Mind | Public Policy Enthusiast | Wellness Advocate

President of India raises concern on EVMs

Pranab Mukherjee’s concern on EVM tampering/manipulation/swapping is not unfounded. The Election Commission of India (ECI), which is entrusted by the Indian Constitution to act as a neutral umpire, has highly compromised with the ruling BJP in this election. The announcement of the election schedule was deliberately delayed in order to allow Modi to complete all his official programmes. The election schedule was designed in such a way that it helps the BJP to distribute financial resources and conduct effective campaigning. Even a peaceful state like Karnataka, which has gone to elections in a single phase both in assembly and parliamentary elections, went to elections in two phases just to favour the BJP to distribute financial resources and suit Modi’s campaign schedule.

Despite the serious violation of the Model Code of Conduct by Modi and Shah, the ECI was reluctant to even look into the complaints. It was only after the SC’s direction that the ECI looked into the complaints, only to give clean chits unabashedly to Modi and Shah. Whether it is the Modi biopic or NAMO TV or the usage of the Pulwama attack and religion, the ECI either remained silent or took action only after opposition parties took the matter to the SC. The dissent of Ashok Lavasa, one of the Election Commissioners who is a part of the 3-member decision-making body, is testimony to the fact that the ECI behaved in a biased manner. The more concerning fact is that Lavasa’s dissent was not recorded, which made him skip all the meetings of the ECI.

ECI’s mysterious behaviour is not at all good news for the world’s largest democracy, which has the best track record of conducting free and fair elections.