The Election Commission on Monday denied allegations made by a cyber expert that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) was rigged during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The EC gave its stand on the issue that the EVMs were 'foolproof' and dismissed the claim saying that it won't be a part of this 'motivated slugfest'.
The events came into light after Syed Suja, an Indian cyber expert seeking asylum in the US, made a sensational claim that the 2014 LS elections were rigged through EVMs and it made the BJP win by a landslide margin.
While addressing a press conference in London via Skype, Suja said that he felt threatened to live in India and had to leave the country in 2014 after some of his colleagues were murdered. However, he has not provided any proof to back his claims.
In a statement, the EC said, "It is being separately examined as to what legal action can and should be taken in the matter".
The statement further claims that the EVMs used by the commission are manufactured by the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) under "very strict" supervisory and security conditions.
"It has come to our notice that an event claiming to demonstrate EVMs used by ECI can be tampered with, has been organised in London. ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest and stands by empirical facts about the foolproof nature of ECI EVMs," claimed the EC statement.
After Suja's hacking claims, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde has demanded a probe either by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) or a Supreme Court judge into the death of his uncle and former Union minister Gopinath Munde.
According to Dhananjay Munde, Gopinath Munde was aware of the EVM hacking and was killed as a result of it.
Gopinath Munde had died in a road accident in New Delhi in 2014. The CBI had reported that there was nothing unnatural in the death of Munde as he had succumbed to his injuries caused by the accident.
Soon after Suja's press conference, several politicians took up the matter on social media. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Opposition would take up the matter to the EC.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on the other hand, called the whole EVM hacking issue "the next big lie".
Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu urged the EC to seek the opinion of all parties involved and sought to revert to the use of ballot paper.
