EVMs--electronic voting machines--were found in ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Krishnendu Paul's car in Asam on Thursday night, Indian media reports said.
Guwahati-based journalist Atanu Bhuyan first tweeted about the EVMs having been found in Paul's car hours after the polling for the second phase of elections in Assam ended. A video showing some people surrounding the vehicle surfaced.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP of trying to manipulate elections. "The fact is, too many such incidents are being reported and nothing is being done about them. The EC needs to start acting decisively on these complaints and a serious re-evaluation of the use of EVMs needs to be carried out by all national parties," she tweeted.
Currently elections are being held in five Indian states: Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The polling will be in several phases and final results will come out on May 2.
Bhanu Partab Singh, a Supreme Court attorney, told DS4 News that the Election Commission is responsible for holding fair and free elections but this is not the case. He argued that elections in Asam, where EVMs were found in a BJP lawmarker's car, are being held in eight phases, which should have been conducted on one day.
This shows the intention of the Election Commission, which is in cohort with the ruling BJP, because there is ample opportunity of manipulation if elections are held in several phases.
The Attorney said that there is a Supreme Court judgment of 2013 saying that fair election cannot be held through EVMs.
Bhanu Partab Singh said that fifty percent population of India is illiterate and it is difficult for them to use EVMs. Even for educated people it is not easy to use the EVMs.
He was of the view that a population campaign should be launched against voting through EVMs.
Bhanu Partab Singh pointed out that the government says around 4 million EVMs were purchased while the Election Commission says only two million EVMs were purchased. In his view the EVM machines found in BJP leaders' cars are one of those two million missing machines.
The EVMs have been in the news over the last few years, as politicians and activists have raised questions about whether they are at risk of being tampered with.
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