Sharad Pawar again raises concern over use of EVMs

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday raised concerns over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in polls, claiming he himself had once seen during a presentation that a vote cast for his party went in the BJP's favour.

Pawar, however, said he did not claim that all EVMs function in such a way.

"I am also concerned about the machine. In Hyderabad and Gujarat, some people kept an EVM before me and asked me to press a button.

"I pressed the button against 'watch' (the NCP's symbol) and the vote got cast in favour of 'lotus' (the BJP's symbol). I saw it happening myself," Pawar told reporters here.

The former Union minister and other opposition leaders have been voicing concerns over the use of EVMs, claiming the machines were prone to manipulation.

The NCP and other 20 opposition parties also recently approached the Supreme Court seeking a review of its April 8 order directing the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per Assembly segment.

The plea was filed by opposition leaders led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

Senior advocate and Congress leader A M Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, told the bench that the apex court increased the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per Assembly segment and they are now seeking that it should be increased to 25 per cent at least.