New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) Calling it a "historic day", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Supreme Court's decision to dismiss a batch of petitions seeking mandatory cross-verification of the votes cast in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.
The SC decision came just as PM Modi was addressing a series of election rallies in Bihar and West Bengal.
Urging the opposition INDIA bloc leaders to offer an apology for doubting the integrity of the country's electoral process, PM Modi said they committed the sin of "creating distrust" against EVMs.
"Today, the Supreme Court has delivered a massive blow to those who plan to loot the ballot boxes... Their dreams have been shattered. The Supreme Court has made it clear today that the era of ballot paper will not return now," said PM Modi.
"Today, when the entire world praises India's democracy, its electoral process, and the use of technology in the poll process, these people, for their personal interests, raise questions about the EVMs with malice. They have constantly tried to undermine democracy. But, the Supreme Court has delivered a tight slap to them today. Every leader of the INDI alliance should apologise to the people of the country," he added.
This is not the first time that PM Modi has slammed the opposition parties for questioning the EVMs.
Soon after winning the public mandate for the second consecutive time in 2019, PM Modi highlighted the role of EVMs, saying that everyone now talks about the percentage increase in voting instead of discussing incidents of booth capturing and looting that were normal in the past.
"I want to tell the nation that for the first time in 1977, the discussion on EVMs had started. At that time, we were nowhere in politics. It was first used in 1982. We were not there even in 1988. The dignitaries at that time from this very House had approved it lawfully.
"They had framed the law. Moreover, under the leadership of the Congress in 1992, all the rules related to the EVMs were made. Like they keep saying - 'we did this, we did that'; this too was done by you. Now you have lost. That's why you are crying," Prime Minister Modi said in his reply to the motion of thanks on the President's address in the Rajya Sabha on June 26, 2019.
PM Modi also mentioned that the opposition parties have time and again tried to derail the election process and create disbelief in the minds of the voters.
"In 2017, there was a huge uproar regarding EVMs. Then, the Election Commission stepped forward and challenged the protesters to come forward and prove the EVMs wrong. But not a single party crying over the EVMs went to the Election Commission. The NCP and the CPI went to the Election Commission but they didn't question the EVMs. They just tried to know how the EVMs were operated. At least the NCP and the CPI went to the Election Commission. Others who doubted didn't go to the Election Commission even after its invitation," he said.
While the opposition continues to make a hue and cry about the EVMs, especially after not tasting success in elections time and again, PM Modi has gone ahead and proudly told everyone about the significant role the EVMs play during elections in the world's largest democracy.
"With time, Bharat has also integrated the election process with modern technology. Bharat has been using Electronic Voting Machines for about 25 years. With the use of EVM, both transparency in elections and efficiency in the electoral process have increased," PM Modi said while addressing the G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit last October.
