Fact Check: Will the opposition not participate in the elections until the ballot paper comes? Know the truth of this claim against EVM

New Delhi: A section of the country’s opposition parties want to conduct voting through electronic voting machines (EVMs). Oppose Been doing it for a long time. he/she says that EVMs lead to rigging from voting to counting of votes, hence for clean and fair elections one should return to the old system of ballot paper. The opposition parties are already demanding to leave the EVMs and return to the ballot paper, but have they now announced that they will not participate in the elections until their demand is met? A user named Deep Agarwal has made the same claim on social media platform X. Let’s investigate this.

What is the claim?

Deep Aggarwal has written in X Post that the opposition boycotted EVMs in the elections and said that they will contest only if the elections are held through ballot paper. he/she also asked whether Maharashtra elections can be held again? Aggarwal claimed that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband Parakala Prabhakar himself has told with data that there was massive rigging in the elections.

In this way, Deep Agarwal has made three claims in his/her ex-post. First, as long as elections are held through EVMs, the opposition will not participate. Second, there is a possibility of re-election in Maharashtra and third, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband has talked about rigging in Maharashtra elections. Let us examine each claim one by one.

What is the truth?

Claim- As long as elections are held through EVMs, the opposition will not participate.
Truth- To date, no statement has been received from any opposition party that has ever said that it will not participate in the elections conducted using EVMs. Anyway, such a big decision can be taken only at the party or alliance level; no leader can take it in his/her personal capacity. In such a situation, it is not possible for there to be no news in the media. Right now the latest news regarding EVM is from Maharashtra. The first session of the new assembly started there on Monday, 16 December. On this occasion, leaders of opposition parties protested against EVMs. Display Did. The leaders involved in this protest gave different statements. The statement that came out regarding returning to the ballot paper system is from NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad. he/she has said, ‘EVMs are a tool to strangle democracy and we will not stop until they are shifted.’ Awhad has certainly demanded shifting of EVMs from ballot boxes.

Claim- There is a possibility of re-election in Maharashtra.
Fact: The Supreme Court was approached claiming rigging in Maharashtra elections. Then Supreme Court Had rejected the petition saying that when you (opposition parties) win then EVM is fine and when you lose then EVM gets damaged, this argument cannot be accepted. The petitioner had demanded from the Supreme Court that elections should be conducted through ballot paper in the country. The Supreme Court had completely rejected the possibility of any kind of malfunction in the EVMs and had set aside the petition demanding to return to the ballot paper. Then there is no question that elections should be held again in Maharashtra. Anyway, the parties which are alleging rigging in the Maharashtra Assembly elections have also not demanded re-election, so there is no possibility of this.

Claim- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband has talked about rigging in Maharashtra elections.
Truth: When we searched the internet to investigate this claim, Wire Found a link to the institute named. Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Modi government, spoke to The Wire journalist Karan Thapar about the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Wire has also published the conversation in the interview in the form of an article. According to this article, Parakala Prabhakar pointed fingers at increasing the voting figures by two-three times in Maharashtra Assembly elections. he/she gave many arguments that there is no scope for a difference of 6-7 percent between the primary and final figures of voting.

conclusion

Two out of three claims made on X Post are wrong while one claim is absolutely correct. On behalf of Deep Agarwal, raising the possibility in the form of a question that assembly elections can be held again in Maharashtra is absolutely wrong. At the same time, it is also not right that the opposition parties have decided not to participate in the elections if voting is not done through ballot paper. Yes, Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has definitely expressed his/her objections regarding the Maharashtra Assembly elections, although he/she has also not clearly said that the elections were rigged. Thus, Deep Aggarwal’s claims are misleading.