New Delhi: Amidst concerns raised by opposition parties EVMDipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, said the country would likely have to return to the same situation. BallotIn an interview with PTI editors at the agency’s headquarters here, the CPI(ML) Liberation leader also raised concern over the alleged “.SaffronisationExit polls have revealed information about “education and stock market scams”.
highlighting their concerns about the conduct of the 2024 general election Election And on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Bhattacharya said the Opposition had demanded 100 per cent polling VVPAT There was a demand for recounting of votes in the elections, but the Supreme Court rejected it.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system that allows a voter to see whether his or her vote has been cast correctly.
The VVPAT generates a paper slip which the voter can see and the paper slip is kept in a sealed envelope and can be opened in case of any dispute.
However, not all votes recorded on the EVM are matched with the VVPAT – slips from five randomly selected polling stations in each constituency are matched with the EVM count.
He said, “Even the Election Commission did not agree with it. So I think now, ultimately, perhaps this country will have to go back to ballot papers… this is my personal feeling.”
Bhattacharya said this is his party’s stand, which is shared by many other parties too, but added that he cannot be sure about all the parties in the country.
“This has nothing to do with the election results. Usually, these BJP people say this is a loser’s argument. Every time we lose an election, we talk about EVMs. It is not like that. After all, elections are about transparency and people’s trust.”
“So what’s the point of having such an elaborate electoral process where people don’t really have full trust?” he asked.
The CPI(ML) Liberation leader said the demands were only likely to increase as the Election Commission was not giving “concrete clarifications”.
“They are almost so reluctant and so economical with their answers … so I expect that maybe in the coming days this will become a bigger issue and we will be back to ballot papers again,” he said.
Asked what could be the way forward, he said, “I think it has to be a kind of popular uprising. Because if the system doesn’t respond, how do you do it? There are times when people express themselves in such a way that the system eventually has to respond,” he said.
He said, “If people are convinced that the elections have been rigged, you can imagine a massive mass movement in the country. In a democracy, I think this is not a bad idea.”
Asked whether ballot papers could bring back the era of booth capturing, he said it was called “booth” capturing and not “ballot” capturing.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the ballots or the actual technology or method of voting,” he said.
Commenting on the recent irregularities and cancellation of examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), he said that centralisation of examinations is a bad idea.
He said, “I think all these things which start with ‘one’… these are very destructive, bad ideas. Whether it is ‘one nation, one election’, one language, one party, one leader, one exam. These are all bad ideas. And if you try to impose these ideas, such things will happen, the system will be rigged.”
He also said that efforts to saffronise the elections have been going on since the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He said, “Saffronisation has been going on since the Vajpayee era or even before that. This is the core agenda of the BJP and the RSS, to control the minds of people, to influence the academic environment, literary environment and the media in the country.”
He said, “Beyond saffronisation, what is actually happening is complete privatisation, and I would call it ‘elitisation’ of education. So once again, education, which Ambedkar thought would be a tool for social justice and mobility, is being denied to people. This is the only thing that can bring some tangible improvement in people’s lives, without any radical redistribution of land or wealth.”
On the ongoing controversy over exit polls and allegations of stock market scam, Bhattacharya said that he supports the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Indian Bloc will raise the issue in Parliament.
“This is unimaginable and unheard of. The Prime Minister and the Home Minister are advising people to buy shares. Our Prime Minister, he is an exam warrior, keeps advising students. I think this is also an unsolicited advice and students would be better off without such advice.”
“Likewise, investors would also be better off without this type of advice, which almost borders on insider trading, violating Sebi norms,” he added.
highlighting their concerns about the conduct of the 2024 general election Election And on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Bhattacharya said the Opposition had demanded 100 per cent polling VVPAT There was a demand for recounting of votes in the elections, but the Supreme Court rejected it.
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system that allows a voter to see whether his or her vote has been cast correctly.
The VVPAT generates a paper slip which the voter can see and the paper slip is kept in a sealed envelope and can be opened in case of any dispute.
However, not all votes recorded on the EVM are matched with the VVPAT – slips from five randomly selected polling stations in each constituency are matched with the EVM count.
He said, “Even the Election Commission did not agree with it. So I think now, ultimately, perhaps this country will have to go back to ballot papers… this is my personal feeling.”
Bhattacharya said this is his party’s stand, which is shared by many other parties too, but added that he cannot be sure about all the parties in the country.
“This has nothing to do with the election results. Usually, these BJP people say this is a loser’s argument. Every time we lose an election, we talk about EVMs. It is not like that. After all, elections are about transparency and people’s trust.”
“So what’s the point of having such an elaborate electoral process where people don’t really have full trust?” he asked.
The CPI(ML) Liberation leader said the demands were only likely to increase as the Election Commission was not giving “concrete clarifications”.
“They are almost so reluctant and so economical with their answers … so I expect that maybe in the coming days this will become a bigger issue and we will be back to ballot papers again,” he said.
Asked what could be the way forward, he said, “I think it has to be a kind of popular uprising. Because if the system doesn’t respond, how do you do it? There are times when people express themselves in such a way that the system eventually has to respond,” he said.
He said, “If people are convinced that the elections have been rigged, you can imagine a massive mass movement in the country. In a democracy, I think this is not a bad idea.”
Asked whether ballot papers could bring back the era of booth capturing, he said it was called “booth” capturing and not “ballot” capturing.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the ballots or the actual technology or method of voting,” he said.
Commenting on the recent irregularities and cancellation of examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), he said that centralisation of examinations is a bad idea.
He said, “I think all these things which start with ‘one’… these are very destructive, bad ideas. Whether it is ‘one nation, one election’, one language, one party, one leader, one exam. These are all bad ideas. And if you try to impose these ideas, such things will happen, the system will be rigged.”
He also said that efforts to saffronise the elections have been going on since the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He said, “Saffronisation has been going on since the Vajpayee era or even before that. This is the core agenda of the BJP and the RSS, to control the minds of people, to influence the academic environment, literary environment and the media in the country.”
He said, “Beyond saffronisation, what is actually happening is complete privatisation, and I would call it ‘elitisation’ of education. So once again, education, which Ambedkar thought would be a tool for social justice and mobility, is being denied to people. This is the only thing that can bring some tangible improvement in people’s lives, without any radical redistribution of land or wealth.”
On the ongoing controversy over exit polls and allegations of stock market scam, Bhattacharya said that he supports the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Indian Bloc will raise the issue in Parliament.
“This is unimaginable and unheard of. The Prime Minister and the Home Minister are advising people to buy shares. Our Prime Minister, he is an exam warrior, keeps advising students. I think this is also an unsolicited advice and students would be better off without such advice.”
“Likewise, investors would also be better off without this type of advice, which almost borders on insider trading, violating Sebi norms,” he added.
