Shocker from Congress' Udit Raj on EVM-VVPAT row: 'Is Supreme Court also involved in poll rigging?'

Congress leader and former North West Delhi MP Udit Raj on Wednesday triggered a controversy as he questioned Supreme Court order dismissing a PIL seeking 100 per cent matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the counting of votes on May 23 for Lok Sabha polls.

"Why does Supreme Court not want that all VVPAT are counted? Is it also involved in the rigging? When all government work is subdued for almost three months due to the electoral process, why does it matter if it takes another 2-3 days in the counting of votes," Udit Raj asked on Twitter. 

Later clarifying his tweet, he told ANI, "When 22 parties went to SC asking for increase in number of VVPAT slips being counted, SC rejected it saying it'll cause a delay. Election process continues for 3 months hampering development work, so what is the big deal if it takes 1-2 days more? I'm not levelling allegations on the Supreme Court, I'm only raising concerns."

Udit Raj, who joined the Congress after being denied ticket by the BJP to contest Lok Sabha election, had yesterday said that the Lok Sabha elections were conducted in 7 phases so the BJP could switch all the EVMs.

"The BJP has already changed the EVMs where it had to. That is why the election was conducted in seven phases. You can keep shouting, no one will hear you. Writing about it will not do anything, you have to come on the road. If the country has to be saved from these slaves of British, a movement is needed. The election commission is sold out. #EVMHacking," he tweeted in Hindi. 

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on May 7 had dismissed a review plea filed by 21 opposition leaders, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, seeking that random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs be increased to 50 per cent.

The opposition leaders had said that the present system of 2 per cent of random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs was inadequate and did not inspire confidence among the electorates. 

Prior to this, the top court had on April 8 directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one to five polling booths per assembly segment in Lok Sabha polls, saying it would provide greater satisfaction not just to political parties but also to the entire electorate.

A fresh plea, filed by a Chennai-based organisation, was rejected by the Supreme Court on Tuesday saying that a larger bench headed by the CJI has already dealt with the matter and passed an order.

The PIL, filed by a Chennai-based organisation 'Tech 4 All', was heard by a vacation bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah.

(With PTI inputs)