DNA Edit: Manufacturing lies - Needless controversy over EVM tampering

The allegations that EVM machines were hacked in the 2014 elections are not only baseless but also politically motivated.

Those were clearly aimed at sullying India’s reputation as the most populous and robust democracy in the world. To put things in perspective, there has been no conclusive evidence that EVMs can be rigged, given the security blanket over Indian elections.

Without access to lakhs of machines, how can one play havoc with them? The claims and conspiracy theories are meant to sow seeds of suspicion in the minds of Indian voters and cast aspersions on the elaborate framework of checks and balances in the electoral system.

The Congress, forever ready to milk a manufactured controversy, had jumped onto the bandwagon this time as well, without realising the consequences. After a string of victories in the assembly elections, will the party still claim that the EVMs were rigged?

Of course not because then they will have to face the music of fresh elections in which the results most likely will not go in their favour. What’s ironical is that the self-proclaimed cyber expert Syed Shuja who made these bizarre allegations got so much of free publicity at the cost of the country’s robust traditions.

Thanks to the Election Commission, which filed a police complaint on the basis of which the Delhi Police registered an FIR, some amount of damage control happened. Where was Shuja when the EC had issued an open challenge to anyone who could expose the vulnerability of the machines?

The EC’s Technical Expert Committee’s point-by-point rebuttal of Shuja’s claims is not only edifying but also an eye-opener on how the country values its tryst with democracy after every five years.