Parliamentary panel summons EC officials over electoral reforms

A parliamentary committee has summoned senior officials of the Election Commission to discuss electoral reforms and the the issue of EVMs' reliability may also be taken up, said informed sources on Wednesday.

Sources said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, chaired by Congress' Anand Sharma, is scheduled to meet on May 19 on the issue of comprehensive electoral reforms.

The issue of reliability of EVMs is also likely to also figure at the meeting.

The sources said the discussions on electoral reforms are expected to extend to a few subsequent meetings with the poll panel.

The Election Commission had convened an-party meeting on May 12 in view of concerns expressed by some opposition parties on EVMs and had announced that all future elections will be held with paper trail.

The poll panel also said that it will hold a "challenge" for political parties to prove their allegations that the machines were or could be tampered with.

In the all-party meeeting, several opposition parties had conveyed their apprehensions about the reliability of EVMs with some demanding going back to the old system of ballot papers. The poll panel however had ruled out any possibility of of the machines being tampered with.

--IANS

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