Ridiculous to hold EVMs responsible for defeat
A Janata Dal (United) leader from Bihar has put it succinctly: When parties win an election, they have no complaints against the electronic voting machines (EVMs); when they lose, they suddenly suspect the EVMs of behaving erratically — and worse, in a manner as to benefit a particular party. The Aam Aadmi Party is unable to digest its shocking loss in Punjab and has blamed the EVMs for being programmed in such a way that it converted the votes given to it, in the Bharatiya Janata Party's favour! Of course, it does not have cogent evidence of such a miracle taking place, and its spokespersons have dusted their hands off the need to provide proof on the pretext that it is unfair to ask a ‘petitioner' for evidence. Even taking the farcical accusation at face value and transferring all the seats that the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine got in the State Assembly election to the AAP, the latter would still not be at the simple majority mark. So, what is the party cribbing aboutIJ Instead of blaming the EVMs, the party and its leader Arvind Kejriwal would do well to utilise their time and energy to introspect on the loss —- on why they failed despite having conducted a high-profile campaign and despite the strong anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP. Clearly, the Congress had a better strategy and ran a more focussed campaign. The voters trusted the Congress more than they did the AAP. It's as simple as that. If the AAP looks within, it will find many reasons for why it flopped in Punjab. Unfortunately, Kejriwal, who is also Delhi’s Chief Minister, has lived true to his image of casting aspersions on a third party for his and his party's failures. This time he has chosen the EVM as his target. It’s good that the EVM cannot file a defamation case in response to his allegation!
And now he is so rattled that he wants the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Delhi to be conducted through the paper ballot. Kejriwal has written to the lieutenant Governor on the matter and has demanded an all-party meet in case the lieutenant Governor rejects his suggestion. The idea needs to be rejected, for sure. It's understandable if parties complain over the non-functioning or mal-functioning of certain EVMs, and these issues are and have been tackled at the booth level itself, to the satisfaction of the aggrieved candidates. The AAP can specify the booths where it believes the EVMs were problematic, and demand redressal of its grievances. But to make a sweeping allegation that EVMs across a State were programmed to benefit a certain party, is ridiculous.
Kejriwal is not alone in his funny act; Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati too is fuming at her party's near-decimation in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP got less than 20 seats out of 403, and she has held the EVMs responsible for the loss. Strangely, the Congress, which was drubbed in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand but won in Punjab and emerged as the single largest party in Goa and Manipur, has made common cause with the AAP and the BSP — though in an understated manner. EVMs are being used in State elections for close to two decades now, and made their debut in the lok Sabha poll in 2004. Social activist Anna Hazare has rightly said that a return to the paper ballot system would be regressive.