Opposition parties, including the Congress, on Friday said that they will continue with their political campaign on greater use of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) to increase public trust in the electoral process.
The Supreme Court has rejected petitions that sought complete cross-verification of votes cast using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with VVPAT, saying “blindly distrusting” any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism.
Congress general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said the Congress was not a party, directly or indirectly, to the petition on VVPATs that were rejected by the Supreme Court.
“We have taken note of the verdict of the two-judge Bench and our political campaign on the greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in the electoral process will continue,” Mr. Ramesh said.
‘Fight would continue’
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the fight against EVMs would continue.
“There is a long fight ahead on VVPAT, EVM, and ballot paper. Whatever decision the Supreme Court takes, everybody will accept that, but the fight won’t stop. The fight will go on,” Mr. Yadav told reporters in U.P.’s Kasganj.
The Supreme Court’s Friday order, CPI general secretary D. Raja said raised further apprehensions on the credibility of EVMs. By suggesting that a bar code be printed on VVPAT slips for mechanical counting, the SC has implicitly accepted that there can be discrepancies between votes registered in EVMs and paper slips, he remarked.
“To reinstate trust in the voting process and to make the polling exercise foolproof, we will continue to demand greater transparency and 100% verification of VVPATs,” Mr. Raja said.
