Conduct polls using ballot papers: MP Cong urges EC

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) today urged the Election Commission (EC) here to conduct polls using ballot papers instead of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) "to restore the credibility of the electoral process" among people.

"Polls should be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs as that will restore the credibility of the electoral process among the people like in the past. It is absolutely necessary for protecting the democratic values," state Congress in-charge of poll related works, J P Dhanopia, said.

In a memorandum submitted to the EC, Congress leaders, including Dhanopia, former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri and the state legal cell head Ajay Gupta met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O P Rawat to raise various issues, including those related to alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and EVMs.

"We also urged the CEC to take action against irregularities in the electoral rolls as demanded by the state party chief Kamal Nath and other senior leaders," he said.

About the EVMs, he said that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT) slips should be displayed for 30 seconds to the voters instead of the seven seconds at present. At least 10 per cent VVPAT slips should be verified with the total number of votes garnered by any candidate, he said.

"We also demanded that wherever the difference of victory margin is less than 1,000, the result should be declared only after verifying of VVPAT slips with that of the votes recorded in EVMs," he said.

A delegation of state BJP leaders also met the CEC and demanded that a software be deployed to identify the voters having names in more than two constituencies so that they can be deleted, party vice president Vijesh Lunawat said.

Besides Lunawat, state Revenue Minister Uma Shankar Gupta and Cooperatives Minister Vishwas Sarang also met Rawat.

The names of voters deleted from the list after the scrutiny should also be exhibited on the Commission's website, he said.

"We have also demanded to extend the date of publication of final electoral rolls by a month and enhance the limit of expenditure per candidate in the assembly polls by 25 per cent from the current Rs 28 lakh," he said.

The Congress has alleged that there are 60 lakh bogus voters in the state and the BJP has urged EC to come up with facts on the matter.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also demanded from the Election Commission to verify at least any 20 per cent Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in every constituency to remove any doubts on the results declared by EVMs.

An AAP delegation led by chief national spokesman and MLA, Sourabh Bhradwaj, met the CEC and submitted a memorandum on the issue.

Representatives of other political parties, including CPI/CPM also met Rawat.

The CEC had earlier said that the commission will consider the demands of the political parties and take appropriate action.

The EC top brass, including Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa, among others later in the day chaired series of meetings with the administrative and police officials to review the preparedness of the state machinery for conducting polls due later this year.