Congress MP Manish Tewari demands paper ballots in place of EVM; netizens slammed saying ‘Rajiv Gandhi brought EVM’

Manish Tewari, a Congress MP, has advocated for conducting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections using paper ballots instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). While speaking to news agency ANI, Tewari said, “Democracy is too precious to be left to technology. The question is not that EVMs are manipulated. The question is that EVMs can be manipulated.”

Further explaining, the Congress MP said that EVM is a machine and can be rigged and hacked.

ANI shared his statement on social media platform X, which reads, “Democracy is too precious to be left to technology. The question is not that EVMs are manipulated. The question is whether EVMs can be manipulated. That is reason enough to go back to paper ballots. For the simple reason, the electronic voting machine is at the end of the day, a machine. And like any machine, it can be rigged, it can be hacked, it can be interdicted, it can be played around with. I do not understand the paternalistic obsession of the Election Commission of India with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Even countries which had adopted Electronic Voting Machines have gone back to paper ballots for the simple reason that they can be interfered with. So, under those circumstances, the 2024 elections must be held on paper ballots…”

Slamming the Election Commission, he said, “I do not understand the paternalistic obsession of the Election Commission of India with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Even countries that had adopted Electronic Voting Machines have gone back to paper ballots for the simple reason that they can be interfered with. So, under those circumstances, the 2024 elections must be held on paper ballots…”

Ex-professor and senior journalist, Dilip Mandal wrote on the social media platform ‘X’, “Rajiv Gandhi led Congress government introduced #EVM, by inserting Section 61A in the Representation of the People Act, just before the 1989 general elections.”

A user wrote, “Congress had tampered with the EVM in 2009 election. BJP got information that congress hacked the EVM, in their favour, therefore Adwani & other BJP leaders knocked the door of SC. Then BJP BJP got the formula how to tamper EVM….. this is the scenario.”

Another user wrote, “Perhaps Manish Tiwari and his father late Mr Tiwari have vast experience of how to manage postal ballots like Mamata Didi has in Bengal”

Another user wrote, “I would completely support with #ManishTiwari ‘s viewpoint if he stood by his views in true spirit. If democracy is too precious to be left to technology, he should go door to door and deliver this message directly to the masses instead of giving interviews on electronic and digital media. In fact give up his mobile phone etc. and walk the talk.”

Another user wrote, “Just like Mamata won panchayat polls with ballot boxes where they were captured by TMC. Manish Tiwari wants the same thing to be in place so that Rahul Gandhi can become PM or else there is no chance to dethrone Modi.”