January 19, 2019
Committee on EVMs formed after Brigade rally
The leaders of the various parties who attended today’s rally at Brigade Parade Grounds, met for a brief meeting at Soujanya guest house. After the meeting, they addressed the press.
It was decided in today’s meeting that a committee will be formed which will prepare a draft on EVMs, which will be submitted to the Election Commission. This committee will comprise Akhilesh Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Satish Misra.
As per the draft, parties will write to the Election Commission. They may also meet during the Parliament Session later this month, said Mamata Banerjee.
Chandrababu Naidu said, “This meeting will change the fate of the country. At this moment, the country is in distress, democracy is under attack. We have to save the country and democracy. BJP is playing divisive politics everywhere. People are with us. Regarding the future activities, we will take decisions together.”
Akhilesh Yadav said, “We may run our respective political parties following our ideologies but I would thank Mamata Ji for bringing us together on the same stage. BJP has disappointed the people of the entire nation. They have made promises which they could never fulfil. This is why I am warning the the common people, do not fall in their trap.”
Satish Misra said, “People want to oust this government. We have to be alert so that they do not resort to malpractices involving EVMs like the last elections. All parties will talk to Election Commission about this. “
Abhishek Manu Singhvi said “There are only a few countries left which use EVMs for elections; then why is India not thinking about reintroducing paper ballots? Some provinces in America, and developed countries like Holland, France, Germany returned to paper ballots after experimenting with EVMs. But since there is little time left for the general elections, our demand is that VVPATs must be present in all EVMs. 50% of the EVMS have to be cross-checked. Next week we will go to Election Commission to discuss about this.”
Mamata Banerjee commented, “We have decided that a committee will formed under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, Satis Misra, Arvind Kejriwal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi who will create a draft on EVM to be placed before the Election Commission. In the same manner other political parties will do the same. This is because it is very important to save the democracy of the country. If we get a chance we will meet at the Parliament.”
Farooq Abdullah said, “We want a transparent election. It is very important. I have fear regarding the EVMs. If elections are won fraudulently, will will never accept it.”
