Bihar elections: EC rubbishes opposition's 'EVM hacking' charge, recalls SC's validation

Addressing the media in the national capital on Tuesday, the Election Commission of India rubbished the opposition's allegation that the EVMs can be hacked. Stressing that the EVMs are robust and tamper-proof, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain mentioned that the Supreme Court too had upheld the credibility of the EVMs. Moreover, he recalled that the EC had invited all political parties in 2017 to prove that the voting machines can be tampered with. 

During an election rally in Araria, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi termed the EVM as "Modi Voting Machine". According to him, the Mahagatbandhan would emerge victorious irrespective of the reliability of EVMs. As trends showed the Mahagatbandhan trailing behind the NDA earlier in the day, Congress' Dr. Udit Raj alleged that the hacking of the EVM cannot be ruled out as the country has the 'capability of controlling the direction of the mission towards Mars and Moon'.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain remarked, "It has been clarified time and again that EVMs are absolutely robust and tamper-proof. The honourable SC has upheld the integrity of the EVMs more than once. In fact, the Election Commission of India had also offered an EVM challenge inviting all political parties in 2017. The integrity of the EVMs is absolutely without any doubt and merits no further clarification."

Read: Bypolls 2020 Results Trends: BJP Leads In MP, Gujarat And UP; Congress Ahead In Haryana

Read: Bihar Election Results: RJD's Manoj Jha Says 'will Form Next Govt' As NDA Leads In Trends

Bihar polls

The Mahagatbandhan comprising RJD, Congress, CPI(M-L), CPI, and CPM is perceived as the principal challenger to the ruling NDA alliance consisting of BJP, JD(U), VIP, and HAM(S). Some of the other alliances in the fray include the 'Progressive Democratic Alliance' who has projected Jan Adhikar Party chief Pappu Yadav as the CM face and the 'United Democratic Secular Alliance' with former Upendra Kushwaha as the CM candidate.The 2020 election witnessed a voter turnout of 57.05% as against that of 56.66% in the 2015 polls. As per the EC trends at 2.26 pm, the ruling NDA alliance is leading in 128 seats in contrast to the Mahagatbandhan which has secured a lead only from 104 constituencies. 

Read: 'NDA Will Come Forward': BJP-JD(U) Confidence Intact As MGB Leads Marathon In Early Trends