Amid the ongoing controversy between the opposition and the government over reports of alleged tampering of voting machines, former president Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday issued a statement where he said that that the “onus on ensuring the institutional integrity in case of security of EVMs lies with the Election Commission and it must put all the speculations to rest.”
A series of video clips have surfaced, which, opposition parties say, prove that EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) are being tampered with or being transported in private cars in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
“There can be no room for speculation that challenge the very basis of our democracy. People’s mandate is sacrosanct and has to be above any iota of reasonable doubt,” said the former president. “A firm believer in our institutions, it is my considered opinion that it is the ‘workmen’ who decide how the institutional ‘tools’ perform,” he added.
Please read my statement below.#CitizenMukherjee pic.twitter.com/UFXkbv06Ol
— Pranab Mukherjee (@CitiznMukherjee) May 21, 2019
At a book launch event, Mukherjee had on Monday said: “If democracy has succeeded, it is largely due to perfect conduct of elections by Election Commissioners starting from Sukumar Sen to the present Election Commissioners.”
His remarks had come a day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that the EC’s “capitulation” before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is obvious.
The opposition parties have been criticising the EC for being allegedly biased towards the BJP.
