California [US], June 16 (ANI): Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal made a big claim that the attitude of the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has been "biased" in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
"It is better to speak less of the Election Commission of India, especially the Chief Election Commissioner. His attitude has been biased. I think the Opposition needs to act on it," Sibal said in a conversation with ANI on Sunday.
When asked by the reporter why he is questioning the Chief Election Commissioner on his impartiality, Sibal said, "Everyone knows the reason. If notices are not even served to individuals who give such statements that are against the Penal Code and can be prosecuted under several Sections; the way our Election Commission does not even answer the Opposition, the way there are differences between the votes polled and the votes counted...all these are serious issues."
"If elections are not conducted impartially through the specified structure, then our democracy is in danger," Sibal added.
The senior advocate suggested that the Opposition should discuss whether free and fair elections are possible if such a partial attitude of constitutional institutions continues.
"The way the Election Commission has acted after 2014, all Opposition parties should think seriously about whether free and fair elections are possible if this attitude of constitutional institutions continue...The Opposition should raise this issue in the (upcoming) session strongly," Sibal said.
Declining to comment on the integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) at the moment, Sibal said that even the top court of the country has asked everyone to trust the machines and have faith in the poll body.
"When the Supreme Court of India said that we must trust our machines, and we must trust the Election Commission of India, if the Supreme Court itself is trusting them, why should I comment on them? If we start trusting the government, the machines, then all work should be done mechanically. Why do courts exist then? If we start trusting the government, then what is the use of giving verdicts?" the Rajya Sabha MP said.
When asked about the former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar's counter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Sibal took a jibe at the former saying, "Rajeev Chandrashekhar is a learned person. He may have better scientific knowledge than Elon Musk. So he may be right as well."
In a sharp counter to Elon Musk's criticism of EVMs, Chandrasekhar has said that they can be architected and built right as India has done. He further called out Musk in a post on X, saying that India "would be happy to run a tutorial" for the same.
Kapil Sibal also suggested that the matter on the integrity of EVMs should be raised in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament and not in the upcoming session because the matter needs "elaborate discussions."
"In this session, there will be the President's address followed by a discussion on it. It may come up in the Monsoon Session. I think this issue should not be raised in this Session because there should be elaborate discussions on this issue," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
On the report that a Shiv Sena leader Ravindra Waikar's relative carried a mobile phone inside a counting centre in Maharashtra's Goregaon that was allegedly used for generating the OTP that unlocked the EVMs, Kapil Sibal pointed out that the matter is related to "electronic voting through ballot papers" and not directly linked to EVMs.
"This matter from Maharashtra where the candidate lost by 48 votes is not related to EVMs. It is about electronic voting through ballot papers. This matter is not directly related to EVMs," Sibal said.
Sibal however added that there may be vote manipulations through the Electronic Ballot Voting System as they are "electronically controlled".
"The electronic ballot system through which elderly people who are above 85 years can vote, thorugh this, if there are 1000-1500 votes in every assembly constituency, in 10 assembly constituencies it sums up to 10,000 votes. There may be manipulations in this. This is because Electronic Ballot Voting System is electronically controlled. This case is different from EVMs," he said.
The Returning Officer of Mumbai North West Parliamentary Constituency dispelled reports of EVM tampering and clarified that no OTP (One Time Password) on mobile is needed for unlocking EVMs.
"There is no OTP (One Time Password) on mobile for unlocking EVM as it is non programmable and it has no wireless communication capabilities. It is a complete lie being spread by a newspaper, which is being used by some leaders to create false narrative," Vandana Suryavanshi, the Returning Officer of 27 Mumbai North West Parliamentary Constituency said in a press conference on Sunday. (ANI)
