Participating in a short duration debate on electoral reforms, members also expressed grave concern over exorbitant expenses incurred by some parties in hiring aircraft and helicopters for campaigning.
"Election Commission (EC) has send 11 letters to government and one SOS (save our soul) message to the Prime Minister about the use of these paper trail machines. Since the Government has not responded to the EC's communique, the people are doubting the intention of the government," Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
Azad said there were doubts on the EVM system, especially when developed countries like United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, were not using it.
When some BJP MPs intervened and asked whether elections can be conducted again without EVMs in Punjab, Azad replied "We are ready. But you should also conduct election in Uttar Pradesh again in that case."
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Azad told the House that the Supreme Court had ordered the use of VVPAT machines in October 2013 and the expenditure on this was estimated at Rs 3,100 crore then. "You have been holding it. If you start acting now, you would be able to do it by the 2019 Lok Sabha polls."
Initiating the debate, Mukul Roy (AITC) said there should be an audit of expenditure during polls on public meetings or air transportation by the political parties, which should be tabled in the House.
Roy also demanded state funding for political parties for contesting elections, saying without state funding, only the big and resourceful parties would be able to contest polls.
Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) said it was not feasible to hold
simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies as there were many loopholes in the current electoral system.
"Those who manufacture EVM machines, if a deal is fixed, if you press the symbol of Elephant, it goes to Lotus. It is possible," he said. On poll expenditure, he suggested inclusion of party funds to the expenditure of a candidate.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said electoral reforms in the country required removing of various infirmities from the system.
Terming the proposal of electoral funding by bonds and Rs 2,000 limit person as "mere eyewash", he said such initiatives would not be of much help but in the contrary open new avenues of money laundering.
He also suggested banning corporate funding to political parties as part of the process to cleanse the system. "Corporate funding to political parties should be banned. Let there be a state fund which could be managed by the Election Commission," Yechury said.
He said there was a widespread feeling that the demonetisation exercise was initiated to help the ruling party in the elections. "Money power has reached a crescendo which we have seen in the recent elections," Yechury noted.
"This distortion where there is no rule of majority can only be corrected by a partial proportional representation system," Yechury said.
On EVMs, he said the government is not releasing funds so that systems with paper trail could be used in the elections. "If there is a dispute you can count the paper ballot. When Supreme Court has ordered you to do so, why are you (government) is not doing it?"
On holding of simultaneous polls, he asked the government whether it was "prepared to remove Article 356 from the Constitution. If you remove it, then you can have simultaneous elections."