Want ballots in 2018, not EVMs, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Manvi: With elections to the assembly looming, the state government has decided to write to the Election Commission to do away with  Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and opt for ballot papers.

The decision has been taken as it believes the EVMs can be tampered with, going by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was speaking to reporters in Raichur on Friday. Recalling that the Congress had raised the possibility of EVMs being tampered with using Bluetooth technology in the Gujarat polls, he regretted that the Election Commission had called its fears baseless. 

Insisting that the possibility was real, he said  experts had informed  him that it was possible to tamper with EVMs. "Many developed countries, which used EVMs, have reverted to the ballot. Some  leaders like L K Advani and Nitish Kumar too have favoured the use of ballot paper. So my government will write to the EC to do away with them for the 2018 poll, " Mr Siddaramaiah added.

When his attention was drawn to the exit poll predicting a victory for the BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, he argued one couldn't go by it. "The counting is still to take place. Exit poll results have gone wrong many times. Let's see what happens on December 18 (when the counting will take place)," he said
To a query, he ruled out the possibility of the Gujarat results impacting the Karnataka poll.  "The issues in both states are  different," he contended.

Later laying the foundation stone for development works amounting to Rs 367 crores,  Siddaramaiah asserted that the Opposition ploy to dislodge him would not succeed as he had lived upto the expectations of  people. "I have completed four years and seven months in office. Perhaps after Devaraj Urs, I am the only  (Congress) CM to have completed 5 years in office. I'm proud to declare I have provided  scandal-free government," he said.