Revert to paper ballots till EVMs are linked to VVPATs: Congress

The Congress on Monday demanded that the EC revert to the old system of paper ballots till the time all EVMs were linked to VVPAT machines providing paper trail of votes and quoted a Supreme Court verdict in this regard.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that the opposition "fabricated" the issue of alleged EVM tampering and instead accused the government of not being interested in having voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines or giving the Election Commission money to buy them.

Citing the 15-page Supreme Court verdict of October 8, 2013 in the matter of Subramanian Swamy versus Union of India, he also accused the government of violating the judgement.

"Today there is no answer, only stunning silence is the answer by the prime minister. There is no answer to a simple question that till such time you fulfill the Supreme Court mandate, why don't you have paper ballot. "Otherwise, instantly give Rs 3,000 to the Election Commission and within a few months have VVPAT for each EVM. There is no answer to either of these basic points," he told reporters. Singhvi said the problem is that for some reason this government is disinterested in having either a VVPAT or in giving money to the EC to get VVPATs.

The Congress leader read out the Supreme Court verdict that states that paper trail of votes is indispensable and it is only with the introduction of paper trail that EVM would be a confidence measure of voter and it is necessary for fullest transparency.