Party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj demonstrates how a voting machine can be rigged; EC says EVM used not its own
Sacked Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra shows copies of his complaint alleging irregularities in the AAP prior to approaching the CBI. Pics/PTI
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal yesterday dared the Election Commission (EC) to provide an EVM to the AAP, claiming that it can be tampered with in 90 seconds flat.
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During a day-long special sitting of the Delhi assembly yesterday, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj put on a "live demonstration" of how EVMs can be programmed to favour any political party. Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine can be manipulated by simply feeding it with a "secret code".
"He (Bhardwaj) showed how easy it is to hack EVMs and it is being done on a massive scale... The EC can give us its machines, we will show how to hack it in 90 seconds by merely changing its motherboard," Kejriwal told reporters outside the assembly.
MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj demonstrates the tampering of an EVM in the Delhi assembly yesterday
Look-alike, says EC
The EC rejected AAP’s EVM tampering claim, saying the "look-alike" gadget demonstrated in the assembly was not its machine. "It is common sense that gadgets other than ECI-EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI-EVMs will behave in the same manner because they are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol," it said in a statement.
The special assembly session started on a stormy note with Leader of Opposition Vijendra Gupta being marshalled out, thus stalling the House proceedings. Gupta tried to raise the issue of alleged corruption in land deals involving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and PWD Minister Satyendra Jain.
He alleged that the Rs 2 crore cash, which was allegedly handed over to Kejriwal by Jain, may be related to the deal.
Diversionary tactic: Mishra
Sacked minister Kapil Mishra alleged that the demonstration was just a tactic employed by the AAP government to divert public attention from real issues. "People don’t want to vote for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal anymore, and they just want to hide this fact," he said.
Earlier in the day, Mishra wrote an open letter to Kejriwal, challenging him to a poll battle.
He also filed three complaints with the CBI against Kejriwal, Jain and AAP leaders who allegedly misused party funds on foreign trips. The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was suspended on Monday from AAP’s primary membership, also threatened to launch a hunger strike today if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.
The CBI said it will examine and verify his complaints.
90secs Time within which Arvind Kejriwal claims an EVM can be tampered with
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