Chandrababu’s ‘EVM Complaint Trip’ To Delhi A Big Flop

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's Delhi trip to  complain against the EVMs glitches , functioning of the Election Commissioner in the state and bring other issues to the fore seem to have backfired. In fact, many political analysts are saying that instead of gracefully accepting his impending loss in the elections, he is making a laughing stock of himself by crying foul that the EVMs were faulty and the EC was not operating correctly. His two-day Delhi trip trying to highlight the same issue was also not taken seriously. An 18-page complaint petition to the CEC where he had spoken about the transfer of the Government officials, request for re-polling in over 600 centres , asking for the paper ballot to be used again, just shows his desperate measures to try and see that the poll results  turn in his favour. But his fate, along with that of other political parties, is sealed in EVMs till this May 23. So, why this fuss?

Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday called for a meeting along with the opposition parties under the name of Save Democracy at the Constitution Club of India in Delhi. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader said that representatives from more than 22 parties would be there in his support, but only four leaders Kapil Sibal, Arvind Kejriwal , Abhishek Manu Singhvi, CPI's Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy , Nilothpal Basu from the CPM, and Surendra Singh  from Samajwadi Party attended the meeting. They raised concerns over VVPATs showing the slip for only three seconds when they are supposed to show it for seven and that the VVPATs were faulty. They also alleged that people complained of being shown the slip of a different party that they did not vote for. Only Chandrababu Naidu in the current elections made this kind of a complaint.

In June 2017, the CEC had called for parties to come forward and test the EVMs and that they could bring in technical person to test the machines. No party had responded to the call made by the CEC. The question that arose was that when the CEC asked the parties to check the EVMs nobody responded, but now Chandrababu comes forward to question the veracity of EVMs now after the elections were over. Since the Election Commission was not paying, heed to their demand of transparency, the opposition parties had decided to approach the Supreme Court.

In another curious stance, Chandrababu was asking for paper ballots and in one media conference, he had raised concerns about his vote going to the Fan symbol of the YSR Congress Party. But why hadn't he complained then, is what political analysts are asking. In another blunder  in the 18- page letter ,he had wrote that the transfer of the higher officials  by the state EC had caused  great loss to him, which in fact would prove that he had appointed the officials favourable to him  and that he was admitting to it in the letter.

Another important factor that the TDP chief should remember is that he had won the 2014 elections and that the EVMs were used in those elections. However, VVPATs were not there in all polling centres, and taking cognizance of this, the Supreme Court had directed that VVPATs should be used in all the places in the country henceforth.

When the Congress won the 2018 elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, the TRS won in Telangana, BJP lost in Karnataka, there were no complaints or comments then. But why is it that Chandrababu chose to talk about EVM malfunctioning in his own home state  now in 2019 ,is what political analysts are asking.

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