News Brief
'Big Blow To Those Intending To Loot...": Here's What PM Modi Said On The Supreme Court Ruling On EVM-VVPAT Case
Nayan Dwivedi
Apr 26, 2024, 05:16 PM | Updated 05:24 PM IST
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In a significant development, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions advocating for 100 per cent verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) votes with their Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.
Shortly after the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered scathing remarks, accusing the INDI coalition.
Addressing an election rally in Bihar's Araria Lok Sabha constituency, PM Modi asserted, "Every politician in the INDI Alliance sinned by trying to create doubts in the minds of the nation's citizens."
"When the Congress, the RJD and other INDIA bloc parties were in power, the poor, backwards and Dalits used to be deprived of their votes through booth capture. With the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines, they are no longer able to play their old game. Hence, they committed the sin of creating distrust against EVMs," alleged the prime minister.
Referring to the Supreme Court's verdict as a "big blow" to these parties, PM Modi underscored the significance of the decision, which rejected pleas for cross-verification of EVM votes with VVPAT, and going back to paper ballot voting.
"Today the Supreme Court has delivered such a big blow to those intending to loot the ballot boxes that all their dreams have shattered," PM Modi said.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar, also declined the plea seeking going back to paper ballot voting, stating, "We have rejected all of them, after referring to the protocol in place, technical aspects, and data which is on record."
Additionally, the apex court issued directives for the sealing and storage of the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) for a minimum of 45 days after the completion of the symbol loading process.
The SC also directed that the burnt memory semicontroller in 5 per cent of the EVMs that is the Control Unit, Ballot Unit and the VVPAT per assembly constituency per parliamentary constituency will be checked and verified by a team of engineers from the manufacturers of the EVM post the announcement of results on a written request by candidates 2 and 3.
Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Around 50 Per Cent Voter Turnout Till 3 PM In Second Phase Polling
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Nayan Dwivedi is Staff Writer at Swarajya.
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