Opposition parties on Wednesday demanded that paper ballots replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) and announced a five-point programme targeting the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A Congress leader said it was a reference to the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants legal immunity to the CEC and Election Commissioners. They are winning elections by deceit,” Kharge said, comparing the SIR deletions to the 2016 high-value currency ban. Opposition MPs would march to the Election Commission on October 6.
He also called for reversing recent election law amendments. “Modi and Shah are treating the Election Commission of India as their puppet. “First, Modi did notebandi; now he is doing votebandi to rob citizens of their rights.
“Everyone has decided to fight together in a united manner,” declared Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after a three-and-a-half-hour strategy session. He confirmed that all participating leaders “100% agreed that instead of EVMs, paper ballots should be used”. “Leaders of Opposition also will seek appointment from President of India to give a representation on our problems and against the chori ki sarkar (govt with a stolen mandate),” Kharge added. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said all parties agreed that PM Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar had assaulted Indian democracy. He said the Opposition had been successful in putting across the concern about manipulation of elections and promised changes. She also questioned the software used by the Election Commission, ERONET, that processes enumeration forms and attempts to match a current elector with a corresponding entry in the base rolls, and said Opposition is ready to fight against Modi.
Kharge lauded party leader Rahul Gandhi for his campaign against vote chori, saying people earlier didn’t believe the point but now everyone realised that he was right.
