Sam Pitroda asks political parties to protest against EVMs

New Delhi: With the defeats in the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, technocrat and Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) chairman Sam Pitroda has once again raised questions on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) saying that he will soon expose along with international experts on how it can be controlled as per one’s convenience and how interference is possible in that.

He also asked the political parties to launch protests against the EVMs and also think of boycotting polls. Pitroda, who is also very close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that EVMs can be controlled as per one’s convenience and interference.

Pitroda, who also worked closely with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said that the EVM machine currently being used in India is not a “stand alone machine.” The IOC chairman said that the problem started when the VVPAT machine was linked with the EVMs. “VVPAT is a separate device consisting of hardware and software,” he said, adding that a special connector is used to connect VVPAT to EVM, which is called SLU.

“This SLU raises many questions. The SLU connector itself shows in VVPAT that from which button vote goes to which party. It is programmed before voting,” Pitroda said. The Congress leader said that after adding SLU, EVMs are no longer a standalone machine.

“In this, all kinds of works which are being talked about can be done. Therefore, we want that the slip issued from VVPAT is currently issued through a thermal printer and can be kept safe only for a few weeks, instead of that a printer should be used which will keep the slip safe for the next five years,” he said.