Grappling to make sense of the MVA’s rout in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and its own disastrous performance in Haryana last month, the Congress Tuesday revived its demand for return to paper ballots once again raising questions on the sanctity of the electoral process itself.

Its ally in Maharashtra, NCP(SP), decided to set up a legal team for a judicial campaign on allegations against EVMs. Party president Sharad Pawar has directed party candidates to collect documentary evidence regarding objections.

Many of Congress’s INDIA bloc allies, however, signalled that, at least for now, they were not on the same page as the Congress on scrapping EVMs.

Addressing a Constitution Day event organised by the Congress in the capital Tuesday, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said: “I will say one thing…and our Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will also agree. Hamara sab…jitni bi shakti lagage ke SC, ST, OBC, gareeb tapke ke log, chote community ke log…yeh log jo apne vote de rahe hain…woh vote fizool ja raha hai. (all the votes cast by the SC, ST, OBC, poor and people from smaller communities are going in vain).

“Nahin woh EVM chod do, humko EVM, PVM kuch nahi…humko hona ballot paper pe vote bas…Let those machines be kept at their houses. Let those be kept at Modi saheb’s residence, or at Shah’s residence or in some godown. There are many godowns in Ahmedabad, let those machines be kept there…We only want paper (ballots). Then you will get to know what your situation, your standing is,” he said.

Kharge said the Congress should launch a movement and “everyone should say, we will tell other parties as well, like how under Rahul Gandhi‘s leadership, we had taken out a Bharat Jodo Yatra, we should start a movement for return of paper ballot…”

Meanwhile, Pawar Tuesday held a meeting of all MLAs and candidates from the NCP (SP) who contested the recently held assembly polls. “The candidates voiced their concerns about not only the electoral process but also EVMs. Our president has taken it seriously and directed to form a legal team which will assist the candidates to address the concerns with the election commission as well as in the courts,” said NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.

Sources said all candidates have been asked to immediately submit letters seeking verifications of the VVPAT. NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad who won the election from Mumbra-Kalva by over 96,000 votes also supported the demand. “There has always been a leader who always led a nationwide movement in the country. Today it is important that a nationwide movement against the EVMs begin and I said that Sharad Pawar should lead it,” said Awhad.

This isn’t the first time the Congress has demanded scrapping of EVMs although the INDIA bloc has been divided on this. “Personally, I don’t believe it. But I can’t say it publicly out of loyalty to the party,” a Congress Working Committee member said when asked about the charge that EVMs are being tampered with.

Asked for his party’s view on scrapping of EVMs, TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien told The Indian Express: “Our view has been very clear for the last many years. We are for paper ballots. We have won multiple elections with EVMs but still ask for paper ballots.”

Senior DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva, on the other hand, said it was the Congress’s view. “It is a view from their side. Our view…we will let you know. More or less we always stand on the same line…But now that we have not discussed about it, I am not in a position to tell you anything.”

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said his party has so far not taken a stand in favour of returning to paper ballot. “Our stand has been that there are certain changes or modifications required in the EVM arrangement. For instance, (in the placement of) the VVPAT machine. The placing of the VVPAT should be at the end. Now it is in the middle… First the ballot where you actually press the button, then it goes to VVPAT and then it goes to the control unit. In VVPAT, you are supposed to see who you have voted for. It comes on the screen. But what happens in the control unit we don’t know. That is why we want the control unit placed in the middle. That is among the things which many of the parties, including the Congress, we have talked about,” Karat told The Indian Express.

His CPI counterpart D Raja said: “The Election Commission should ensure free and fair elections. The EC is a Constitutional body. It should remain neutral. When the EC is not neutral, then EVMs also become questionable.”

When asked for the RJD’s view, senior party leader Manoj Jha said: “I think before anything else, the entire INDIA bloc should consider all available alternatives. If a consensus decision is formed in favour of ballot paper, we should go for it. But broader consultation is required.”

In 2018, in the wake of a string of defeats in Assembly elections, the Congress passed a resolution at its AICC session in Delhi which said: “There are apprehensions among the political parties and the people over the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to the popular verdict. To ensure the credibility of the electoral process, the Election Commission should revert to the old practice of paper ballot as major democracies have done.”

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