Allegations of electronic voting machine (EVM) hacking have resurfaced as the tampering claims around Mumbai’s North West constituency have grabbed attention. The Shiv Sena faction, led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, won the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by merely 48 votes in the recent Lok Sabha elections (the lowest victory margin in the country). This happened after a close contest between the winning candidate, Ravindra Waikar, and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena candidate, Amol Kirtikar.
According to a report published on Sunday by the Mid-day, the brother-in-law of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha MP Ravindra Waikar was booked on June 4 for allegedly using a mobile phone at the counting facility attached to the EVM. The report also stated that this mobile phone was used for generating the OTP that unlocked the EVM machine. The returning office, Vandana Suryvanshi, in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat, however, denied the EVM tampering claim, stating that the Electronic Voting Machine is a stand-alone device and that there is no OTP on a smartphone for unlocking because it is non-programmable.
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On Monday, June 17, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined mounting calls for transparency after claims of vote rigging in Mumbai. The Wayanad and Raebareli MP-designate requested the Election Commission to 'guarantee transparency' or eliminate the usage of computerized voting machines. The remarks came after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction hinted that it intends to file a petition with the Supreme Court over its narrow defeat in Mumbai North West by 48 votes. Following tech billionaire Elon Musk's proposal to remove electronic voting machines, the Congress leader previously on Sunday described India's EVMs as a "black box". Other opposition leaders like Aaditya Thackeray and Priyanka Chaturvedi have also supported the claims. Gaurav Gogoi has asked the Election Commission to release data on faulty EVMs in Lok Sabha polls.
EVMs in India are a "black box," and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them.
Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process.
Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability. https://t.co/nysn5S8DCF pic.twitter.com/7sdTWJXOAb— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 16, 2024
Mumbai police dismissed the media allegations as bogus and untrue, claiming that no official had provided such information about a mobile phone being used to generate an OTP to unlock an EVM.
