New Delhi: As many as 16 opposition parties, including the Congress, on Sunday unanimously rejected the Election Commission’s proposal to introduce remote Electronic Voting Machines for the 30 crore migrant workers.
“The parties have unanimously rejected the EC proposal because it is very sketchy. It is not concrete. There are many anomalies in the proposal. For instance, the definition of migrant labour and their number is not clear. We have made up our mind to oppose the proposal of Remote EVMs,” Congress veteran Digvijay Singh said shortly after he discussed the issue along with representatives of several parties.
The opposition parties that attended the Sunday meeting at the Constitution Club included the Congress, CPI, RJD, JD-U, Shiv Sena, JMM, NCP, RSP, VCK, IUML, SP, MDMK, RLD, NC, and PDP. Independent Rajya Sabha MP and noted Supreme Court advocate Kapil Sibal also attended the opposition meeting. The conclave was facilitated by the Congress. The SP and the NCP could not send their representatives but had apprised of their views to Singh.
The joint opposition move came a day ahead of the EC’s meeting on Jan 16 where the poll panel will hold a demonstration of the remote EVMs. “We will attend the January 16 meeting and raise critical questions about the EVMs. Without taking the opposition into confidence the EC cannot decide on the issue unilaterally,” said D Raja of the CPI.
Also read: Congress red flags EC's remote EVMs, questions '30 crore migrant workers' figure
After the January 16 meeting, the opposition parties will again hold a discussion on January 25 where they will discuss the issue and finalize either joint or individual responses in writing to the EC proposal as desired by the poll panel by January 31. “As we have been asked to give a written reply by January 31, we will again meet on January 25 to finalise a common view on the issue and communicate it to the EC,” said Digvijay Singh.
According to the Congress veteran, “there have been numerable concerns related to trust of the EVMs, whether it is the stand-alone machine or one connected to the internet.” “Then there are concerns over which is the manufacturer supplying the microchip for the EVM, who is burning the software. All these issues have been documented after discussions with experts and cryptographers,” said Singh.
The Rajya Sabha member further said that earlier a civil society delegation had submitted a memorandum to the EC over the EVM on May 2, 2022 but the poll panel has not responded to it so far. RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha pointed out the flaws in the data related to migrant workers.
“The EC has not analysed the data. Earlier, the government had said that it had no data related to migrant labour during the pandemic. Then from where is this new figure of 30 crores coming? The EC is after all responsible for holding free and fair polls as per Article 324 of the Constitution,” said Jha.
“We have some questions about the issue. The EC would have to assure the people about the process through which the 20 crore or 30 crore migrant voters would be included in this system. We would want to know their preparation for the same,” said Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha, who is also a senior Supreme Court advocate.
