Oppn parties meet EC over EVM issue

Leaders of several opposition parties approached the Election Commission on Monday and sought redressal of the issue of alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The opposition leaders demanded the poll panel ensure that 50 per cent of EVM results are matched and cross-checked with voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) before the declaration of results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The leaders told the Election Commission the people of the country doubted the efficacy of EVMs and this issue needs to be redressed.

The opposition delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner and other members of the panel.

The opposition parties had earlier sought moving back to the ballot paper system, but after the Election Commission made it clear that there was no possibility of going back to the old system, they changed their strategy and are now demanding the matching of 50 per cent EVMs with VVPATs.

The leaders of various opposition parties earlier met in Parliament and discussed their strategy on the issue.

The delegation included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma of the Congress, Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Majid Menon (NCP), Derek O'Brien (Trinamool Congress), Ramgopal Yadav (SP), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), Omar Abdullah (NC), Mohd Salim and T K Rangarajan (CPI-M), Manoj Jha (RJD), Sanjay Singh (AAP), D Raja (CPI), Danish Ali (JD-S), N K Premchandran (RSP), Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) and K G Kenye (NPF).

The leaders of various parties had earlier met in Constitution Club on Friday and discussed their future strategy on the issue.