To Election Commission: Why fear if nothing to hide?

Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs

Faith is one thing that keeps every person ticking. Be it faith in God or in the system of democracy. And it lies on the government to uphold the faith of the citizens because no matter how hard we try to shroud the truth that we are no more useful than to vote politicians to power, it remains a true fact.

In the recent times, the uproar about EVMs being tampered with is the hot topic. And nonchalance or politics of shying away from reality to let the matter die a natural death will not help. It is true that a lot of people are scared about whether their right to vote is being doctored, tampered or compromised with. But an utter silence or just passing the buck to the Opposition by terming the claims “stupid” will only raise more concerns about the situation.

The Election Commission had thrown an open challenge and many like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are ready to take up the same. On Friday, the AAP staged a protest outside the Election Commission’s office demanding Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)-equipped EVMs to be used in the next elections.

VVPAT-equipped machines are ones that issue slips that confirm a person’s vote for a party. So where is the problem in introducing such machines that simply restore the faith of a voter in the system of democracy? And if there is nothing to hide, why not just introduce the same?

A lot of problems might just be addressed with the introduction of VVPAT-equipped machines. Speculations of the present EVMs being tampered with might actually die. It will also prove to be a slap on the faces of the political parties raising questions on a tool of democracy.

All political games are on one side and public sentiment on the other. Under no circumstance can the government take the public for granted. If there is nothing to hide, why not take initiatives to run an election with the VVPAT-equipped EVMs in place? An appropriate answer would be to vacate seats and run the elections in the way the Opposition parties want and kill all speculations at once.

 If the results are to be believed in, then the public mood is towards the BJP and it can jolly well run a snap election with the only difference being in the party itself opting for it. It takes a lot of guts and no matter how harsh it sounds, the Aam Aadmi Party had done the same after being in power for just over a month and it had returned to power with a thumping victory. Reason: The party knew what the public mood was and was confident about returning to power.

India needs another AAP in the Bharatiya Janata Party. It needs an answer to the never-ending allegations being raised by the Opposition parties on its favourite party — BJP. And the BJP has to answer it. More so, because the elections’ results say that the public mood is towards it, if really the machines were not tampered with.