The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday, April 26, rekindled the fire that was the electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering row by not only admitting a petition in this regard, but also ordering EVMs used in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections — conducted earlier this year — to be preserved.
The Uttarakhand HC has also issued notices to the Election Commission of India, the state Election Commission as well as BJP MLA MS Chauhan on the issue, asking them to reply to the notices within six weeks.
Chauhan had been elected to the Uttarakhand Assembly from the Vikasnagar constituency in elections held earlier this year. The Congress subsequently raised accusations of EVM tampering in the constituency. As a result, all EVMs used in the constituency must be preserved, the Uttarakhand HC has ordered.
EVMs have been at the centre of controversy since the Assembly elections to five states earlier this year, one of which saw the BJP galloping to power in Uttar Pradesh, where it was thought the saffron party would see tough contests from local political outfits like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Both the SP and the BSP, and even some sections of the Congress, alleged that EVMs had been tampered with to give votes to the BJP. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had joined the chorus within days of the EVM-tampering bogey being raised. He blamed EVMs for the AAP's loss in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections on Wednesday, April 26.
