Will provide solution to all issues concerning EVMs before polls: Election Commission

With a number of parties asking the Election Commission of India to revert to the system of holding elections through ballot papers, the poll body has said that it would give solutions to all issues concerning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Following an all-party meeting, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat assured that issue would be looked into. “We will definitely look into all the suggestions given by them (political parties) and there will be a satisfactory solution to them,” he said.

The Congress party has claimed that almost 70 per cent of the political parties in the meeting asked the EC to revert to the tradition method of voting in elections. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the party raised it before the EC that the issue of EVM tampering was not included in the questionnaire sent by the poll body to parties.

"Around 70 percent political parties have demanded that the EC revert to the old system of ballot paper during elections. The BJP was singled out today," he told reporters in the national capital after the Election Commission held a meeting with national and regional parties.

Opposition parties like Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party, CPI-M, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), DMK, CPI, YSR Congress, Kerala Congress Mani (KCM) and AIUDF have also raised questions on the EVMs. The Bharatiya Janata Party's alliance partner, the Shiv Sena, has also raised similar concerns on EVMs.

The Election Commission of India had earlier said that the agenda of the meeting was to discuss measures that could help in further improving accuracy, transparency and inclusiveness of electoral rolls, measures to encourage enhanced representation of women in political process, issues related to expenditure ceiling for parties, timely submission of annual audited reports and election expenditure reports among other things.

The poll body had also written to the political parties with a questionnaire on the issue of elections.

(With PTI inputs)