Election Commission throws open challenge'

New Delhi: After many parties alleged that tampering of Electronic Voting Machines led to their losing the recently held Assembly polls, the Election Commission on Friday said it will throw an “open challenge” to all political parties to try and tamper the EVMs used in the last polls held in five states.

However, at the end of the all-party meeting, only four political parties — BSP, TMC, Panthers Party and the PMK — stuck to the demand for reversal to ballot papers.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which had been harping on the tampering of the EVMs and had also held a live demonstration within the precints of the Delhi Assembly, was among those parties along with the Congress, Left, Janata Dal (United) and others who did not demand reversal to ballot papers. Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who had been earlier claiming that the EC has backed out of a “hackathon” said that his party had already proved that EVMs can be hacked and was ready for the EC challenge.

“Our party will prove again that the EVMs can be tampered with.” Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told the media after the meeting that the EC would hold a challenge and invited all parties to get technocrats to see whether the EVMs can be tampered with.

At the meeting, Mr Zaidi dismissed queries raised by some political parties about the incidents of alleged EVM manipulation at Bhind and Dholpur during the recently concluded bye-elections, and said that baseless perceptions were generated about these incidents.