Digvijaya questions ECI's transparency, calls for release of source code

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh raised questions over the Election Commission of India's transparency, a day after the party's letter to ECI seeking a meeting with the INDIA bloc leaders to discuss the issue of Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT).

Singh raised concerns over the ECI stonewalling opposition meetings.

"Why is ECI stonewalling opposition meeting with them? How do we trust ECI who refuses to meet Principal Opposition Parties?" Singh said in a post on X.

Earlier in September last year, the Supreme Court had declined to entertain a PIL seeking an independent audit of the source code of the EVM and placing such reports in the public domain.

Amid the top court declining the PIL, the Congress veteran urged the ECI to enhance transparency by making the Source Code on the chip publicly available.

He further emphasized the need for assurance regarding the security and invulnerability of the electoral system against hacking or manipulation.

"Why can't ECI be more transparent and bring the Source Code on the chip in public domain if it is so safe and secure which no one can hack or manipulate?," his post stated.

On Tuesday, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in the letter alleged that the ECI put a blind eye to the opposition's several requests for a meeting to discuss Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) - related concerns.

The letter stated, "...a request for an opportunity for a 3-4 member team of INDIA party leaders to meet with you and your colleagues and talk a few minutes to put forward our point of view on VVPATs. Surely, this is a perfectly reasonable and legitimate request."

The letter added that the delegation sought an appointment again on December 20, 2023, to "discuss and provide suggestions on the use of VVPATs" based on a resolution passed at the meeting of leaders of INDIA parties held on December 19, 2023.

"We have been trying to meet with the ECI to hand over a copy of this resolution and have a discussion but have not been successful so far in doing so," the letter stated.