Mute Spectator : And the Winner of the Year is!!
December 31, 2019
One of the key
components of a democratic system is its electoral process. It gives a direct
opportunity for its people to either reward or punish those who were in the
seat of power and to also seek an alternative in whose ideas they believe in.
So, this opportunity of the people is utilised through a medium in the form of
a hardware. Thereby, the entire
belief in the electoral process lies centered in a single piece of hardware
called the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine). Nowadays, EVM is accompanied with a
VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail). As an outcome, it is the
responsibility of the Election Commission of India to provide a fool proof
system in which every genuine vote doesn't go unaccounted for.
Just like every other field, elections in India
too had its own transition phase. From ballot boxes to EVMs, the significance
of the transition has been phenomenal. From a time of booth capturing to a CCTV
monitored polling, the system has transformed to modernity. I am nowhere
ascertaining that we have a complete fool proof system but it is perpetual
ignorance to undermine our efforts for a free and fair electoral process.
Again, the entire effort for free and fair elections lies centered in its
medium of polling - the EVMs.
So
how credible is the EVM??
EVM is a stand-alone, non-networked, one time
programmable machine. An EVM is neither computer controlled nor connected to
the Internet or any network and hence tamper proof. Various checks and balances
are in place so that no manipulation can take place. It has stood its own test
of time and speaks for its credibility in highly polarised times where parties
and individuals don't even spare institutions even though if it comes with a
cost.
So,
what's the fuss around??
In recent times, politicking around the EVMs
credibility has leapfrogged. Whenever a party loses election, it has become a
fashion to create a fuss around the credibility of the EVMs. Those speaking of
constitutional morality had made it a set pattern to blame it on the hardware
without any reliable evidence. This narrative completely changes when the same
party wins another election. This duplicity of political parties undermining
the electoral system as they like is idiocy in its best. Parties popularising
this claim of EVMs being tampered, manipulated or being hacked after votes
being polled and devoid of proof is an assault on the rights of the people who
have voted any specific party to power. Rather than analysing their cause for
the setback in the elections and course correcting themselves accordingly,
parties take the easier route by entirely blaming the EVMs.
Sam Pitroda from the Indian National Congress
claimed, "The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) technology is prone to
manipulation and the EVM technology used in India is obsolete". Another
INC senior and prominent advocate Kapil Sibal attended an event in London to
demonstrate EVM hacking. Not withholding the ruling dispensation, the BJP
supremo L.K Advani claimed that EVMs are not foolproof and there is a need to
return to paper ballot after their defeat in the 2009 General Elections. A
former psephologist and a current BJP MP G.V.L Narasimha Rao wrote a book on
the subject 'Democracy at risk, Can we trust our Electronic Voting Machines'.
Same is the case for every major party. It has become a template for electoral
defeat.
Yes, there might be genuine concerns about the
machine. As a stakeholder, the concerned parties should raise the issue
legitimately, if not juxtaposing it with the results and using it as an alibi
for defeat. We are seeing a situation where everyone comes up with a problem
and no one with the solution.
To quote Pranab Mukherjee here,
"If we want to strengthen institutions we
have to keep in mind institutions are serving well in this country and if
democracy has succeeded, it is largely due to the perfect conduct of elections
by Election Commissioners starting from Sukumar Sen to the present Election
Commissioners".
This statement was made on May 20, 2019 just 3
days before the results of the General Elections, 2019.
A Picture that speaks for itself,
One good fanatical story that I have been
hearing and reading since 2014 is that the central ruling party is able to win
most of the assemblies by manipulating the EVMs. If that is the case, how come
the saffronisation of India has shrunk to a larger extent? Just because to save
face and to seek a political mileage, most parties comfortably use this abrupt
lie.
Democracy is by and large an idea of the
people, if political parties can't accept the people's verdict then how good a
democracy is that? Talking about Institutional destruction on one hand and
defaming the same institution for a political loss is similar to the pot
calling the kettle black.
This year has seen 7 Assembly Elections and
one of the great spectacles of democracy - The Indian General Election- 2019.
Regional parties have taken the Vidhan Sabha starting from Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, Sikkim, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Bharatiya Janata party has lost
significantly starting from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
There is nothing to gain by demeaning the people's verdict and the medium of
polling. It's time to rest the conspiracies around the Electronic Voting
Machine and this year has shown that they are nothing more than conspiracies.
Political parties need to be benevolent during electoral setbacks and should
not look for short lived face saving measures resulting in institutional
undermining.
India today
Finishing off with a quote by Abraham Lincoln,
"The ballot is stronger than the bullet". Don't make a joke of it
unless there is one seriously.
JAI HIND.
By Sathish T K
Mute
Spectator is the primary series of the blog where we express our
opinions on current affairs.
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