Differences in the Congress on junking electronic voting machines for paper ballots came to the fore when senior leader M Veerappa Moily broke ranks to fully support the electoral system in the country.

Moily, a former Union law minister, said it was the Congress that had introduced EVMs, and the nation should be proud of the reforms that have taken place in the Election Commission over the years.

On Monday, the Congress had joined 15 parties — mostly regional outfits — and urged the poll panel to junk the use of EVMs, pending inquiry into reports of tampering and malfunctioning. The parties had asked the commission to return to paper ballots in all future elections.

However, Moily had a different view. “We can have a committee to look into the issues of EVMs, but there is no question of going back to manual methods,” Moily said.