YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is still trying to keep his cadre ignorant by blaming the EVMs for his historic defeat.
He cites the example of how even Developed Countries do not use EVMs and advocates the necessity of bringing back Paper Ballots.
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But then, going back to Paper Ballots can be very dangerous to Democracy and Jagan wants to have it exactly for the same reason.
Paper Ballot Voting was the main reason for Congress’s win and dominance in the past. After the independence and until the formation of the TDP in 1983, Congress was invincible in Andhra Pradesh.
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While the lack of an alternative is a reason, Rigging also played a crucial role.
In areas like Rayalaseema and Palanadu, the faction was raised specially for Rigging. In this order, YS Rajasekhar Reddy became a big leader.
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This generation knows YSR’s Political career only from 2004 when he became the Chief Minister. He was a main leader for many years in Congress before that.
Congress Cadres used to do booth capturing on the polling day. They used to threaten the voters and polling staff in a booth and capture the entire booth and cast votes as they want. The job used to be done in a few minutes.
This is not possible in EVMs because the machine has to be reset after casting a single vote and it is difficult to cast bogus votes consecutively due to the time gap between votes.
If they could not capture in any booth, they would forcefully break in and pour ink or water into the ballot boxes while moving them. With that, re-polling has to be done again. They used to do this, especially in those booths where opponents are strong.
Buying votes with Paper Ballot is also very easy. Now the voters who took money for voting go inside and can cast their vote to whoever they want. If there is a paper ballot, the voter will be given a ballot paper with their vote marked to the party that buys votes. They have to put the completed ballot in the box and ask them to bring back the original voting paper given inside as proof. Thus, Paper Ballots increase the influence of money on voting patterns.
Maybe that’s why Jagan wants Paper Ballots!
And then, the counting will be delayed due to Paper Ballots. Also, it is very easy for the counting staff to make mistakes in counting. Counting with Machines is easier and less prone to Human Errors. The Counting staff can also be influenced to get results in favor of a party or a leader. Their role becomes crucial where there is a close contest. Securing counting centers in faction areas is also difficult.
In the Paper Ballots System, the cost of printing, the cost of preserving the ballot papers, the cost of security of the polling centers, the cost of the counting staff, and the counting process time increase greatly. It is a big problem because we are a big country and have a huge population. Paper Ballots will lead to a complete monarchy of the parties with muscle strength and money. New parties and small parties cannot do politics.
If the YSR Congress or any other party expresses doubts about EVMs, it is only to create reasons for their defeat.
EVMs used in India are different from EVMs used in other countries. People cite the example of Elon Musk who said the EVMs there can be tampered with. Indian EVMs are difficult to tamper with because their technology is so simple. The Technology of our EVMs is similar to the Technology used in the Calculators.
Calculators cannot be tampered with.
BJP’s defeat in 2004 and Congress’s defeat in 2014 would not have happened if EVMs were tampered with. In recent elections, the BJP would not have allowed the dependence on TDP if they could tamper with the EVMs.
If YSR Congress is serious about these allegations, will they boycott all the elections that are held with EVMs? There is a lack of seriousness in their legal fight against the EVMs, that itself indicates they are just passing the time.
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