The Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra has firmly rejected the allegations made by the opposition parties regarding a mismatch between the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips and the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the recent Maharashtra state elections.
According to the Election Commission's protocol, it is mandatory to count the VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations in each assembly constituency, comparing them with the data from the corresponding EVMs.
The law, backed by a Supreme Court directive, ensures transparency and verifiability in the election process.
The Maharashtra Chief Election Officer clarified that the VVPAT slips were counted on November 23, the day of the vote counting, at 288 assembly constituencies across the state.
The procedure was conducted under the supervision of the Counting Observer and representatives from the contesting candidates. A total of 1,440 VVPAT units were tallied, and the results showed no discrepancy between the slips and the EVM control unit data.
This process adhered strictly to the procedure laid out by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Chief Election Officer reassured the public that there was no evidence of any malfunction or inconsistency between the VVPAT and EVM counts.
Despite this clarification, the allegations from the opposition parties, particularly the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which consists of Congress, Shiv Sena, and NCP factions, continue to persist.
Following their defeat in the Maharashtra elections, the MVA leadership has raised concerns over the credibility of the EVMs, accusing them of contributing to their poor performance. They have even announced plans for a national protest questioning the integrity of the voting machines.
The criticism of the EVMs was also echoed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who suggested returning to ballot papers instead of relying on electronic voting machines.
Speaking at an event in Delhi on November 26, Kharge voiced his concerns about the misuse of EVMs and how the votes of poor and oppressed communities were potentially being wasted. He advocated for a shift back to traditional voting methods, calling on the public to demand paper ballots.
According to Kharge, only through this change could the opposition parties truly assess where they stand in comparison to the ruling party.
On the other hand, Union Minister Piyush Goyal took a different stance, dismissing the opposition’s allegations as baseless.
He sarcastically suggested that if the opposition leaders had no confidence in the EVMs, then their MPs and MLAs should resign and allow for re-elections.
Goyal’s comments indicated a lack of seriousness in the opposition's stance, emphasising that the election results were legitimate and that EVMs had functioned properly in the polls.
At the same time, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, speaking at an event, responded to the rising trend of criticism against the Election Commission and the voting machines.
He noted that while criticism seemed to be growing, the resilience of the Indian voter remained strong. Kumar expressed his pride in the peaceful nature of India’s elections and highlighted how the country's democratic process continues to resolve issues through voting, not violence.
He pointed out that the Indian electoral system had withstood various challenges, underlining the importance of public trust in the process.
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