INDIA bloc to approach Supreme Court over EVM issue: NCP (SCP) leader

The INDIA bloc has decided to approach the Supreme Court over the alleged tampering of EVMs and VVPAT machines in the Maharashtra assembly elections, said Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Prashant Sudamrao Jagtap.

He said this on Tuesday night after a high-level meeting here with NCP(SCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, AAP's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi

He said that the INDIA alliance has faith in the apex court and hoped that it will give a decision in their favour regarding "the scam that happened in Maharashtra assembly elections".

"In today's meeting (at NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar's residence), we have decided to approach the Supreme Court as INDIA alliance regarding the scam that happened in Maharashtra assembly elections to make the BJP-led alliance win. This includes the issue of an increase in vote numbers and tempering in EVM and VVPAT. All the parties within the INDIA alliance in Maharashtra will go to the Court. We have faith in the Supreme Court and we expect that the SC will pronounce order in our favour and against the scam." Pune NCP (SCP) President Jagtap told ANI.

Earlier, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule also said she joined Sharad Pawar in the meeting

"Joined Hon. Pawar Saheb in a pivotal meeting with Arvind Kejriwal ji, Sanjay Singh Ji, and NCP (SP) MPs, MLAs, and assembly candidates. Deliberated on critical issues impacting the nation and charted a strategic way forward," Sule posted on X.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni asserted that EVMs cannot be hacked. He said that the chips used in the EVMs are one-time programmable, making tampering impossible.

"I say this with full responsibility, EVM cannot be hacked. EVM cannot be tampered with. There is a simple reason for this. First, it is a standalone machine ...no connection with any network or outer gadget. So, hacking or tampering is not possible. Second, the chip used in it is one-time programmable, so there cannot be any reprogramming," Kulkarni told ANI on Tuesday.

He further said that there was no need for misunderstandings regarding EVMs since the Election Commission of India (ECI) dictates a procedure that allows for matching of the Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) count and votes a candidate has received through EVMs.

This process is observed to ensure there was no discrepancy in these figures, Kulkarni said, while adding that this procedure of comparing the number of votes through VVPAT slips and EVM votes is undertaken before the declaration of the final results.

Earlier, the Chief Election Officer (CEO) S Chockalingam on Tuesday rejected Opposition allegations regarding the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the Maharashtra assembly elections and said "no mismatch" was found between the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) slips with their corresponding EVM numbers.