Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Tuesday told the Karnataka Assembly that he would use his office to seek an explanation from the Election Commission about the 19 lakh "missing" electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Kageri said this after senior Congress member HK Patil quoted statistics, based on RTI replies, on missing EVMs during a special debate on electoral reforms.
“You will be shocked to know about missing EVMs. Reports as given to RTI activists by BEL that 9,64,270 EVMs and by Electronics Corporation of India that 9,29,992 EVMs are missing and not returned. Almost 19 lakh EVMs are missing and nobody knows where they have gone! Can these EVMs be operated again? How are you keeping quiet?” Patil said.
Patil also said that in 2014, BEL claimed to have supplied 62,183 EVMs. “But, the EC hasn’t received even one,” he said.
Former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar called it “a big fraud” and urged the Speaker to summon EC officials to the Assembly to explain this. “If there’s any variation between the order placed and supply made, do you require any further proof? EC, being an autonomous body, has lost its credibility,” he said.
Speaker Kageri asked Patil to submit details. “Using my jurisdiction of power and the authority at my command, I will make an attempt to have the EC give answers and solutions to your questions and doubts,” he said.
Patil also raised concerns over the functioning of EVMs. “The EC should invite not just political parties, but also researchers and scientists to test the EVMs,” he said. To this, BJP MLA Arvind Bellad said no party, let alone the Congress, took up a challenge hosted by EC in Delhi to test the EVMs.
Former IT minister Priyank Kharge said when in office, he had offered to host an ethical hackathon in Bengaluru to test the EVMs. “I wrote to the EC twice, saying the government will host the hackathon. They wrote back with the EVM manual,” Kharge said.
During the discussion, both Patil and Kumar rued the lack of transparency in electoral bonds. “The BJP has received 75 per cent of total electoral bonds. The identity of the donors is kept anonymous. We have to resolve in this House that this lack of transparency be completely removed. Such officialisation and institutionalisation of corruption is an extremely serious concern,” Patil said.
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