Senior Supreme Court advocates Bhanu Pratap and Mahmood Pracha were detained by the Delhi Police while marching towards the office of the Chief Election Commissioner of India protesting against the usage of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) in the electoral process.
Pratap and Pracha were detained on January 5 during a peaceful march organised by the latter who is also the national convener of ‘Mission Save Constitution’.
On January 1, the duo conducted a press conference stressing the EVMs are the ” biggest threat” to the Indian Constitution and democracy and urged the Election Commission to bring back paper ballots. They said it was “impossible to conduct a fair election” with EVMs.
While being pushed into the police van, Bhanu Pratap told reporters, “I only have one thing to add. The way police are stopping us and not letting us meet the Chief Election Commission only proves us right and demonstrates how important this protest was. This further proves that Narendra Modi is scared of us, and they only have been winning because of EVM tampering.”
Many activists including certain political parties have questioned the credibility of EVMs in the past. On December 15, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, during a press conference asked, “If you (BJP government at the Centre) want to become a developed country, then why don’t you adopt the system of voting practised in developed countries?”
Congress leader Sam Pitroda recently said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can win more than 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections if issues associated with EVMs are not “fixed”.
On January 5, the Election Commission dismissed senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s concerns on the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips and expressed full faith in the use of EVMs.
During its meeting on December 19, INDIA bloc Opposition parties voiced doubts about the integrity of the functioning of EVMs and demanded VVPAT slips be handed over to voters who could drop it in a separate box.
