Farooq Abdullah calls EVM ‘Chor Machine’, demands bringing back of ballot papers

Former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Saturday called the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) the ‘chor machine’ and demanded that ballot papers should be brought back for a fair selection process. "The EVM is ‘chor’ machine. Honestly speaking, it is so. Its use must be put to an end. Nowhere in the world is the machine used. The opposition parties should approach the Election Commission and the President of India to stop the use of the EVM and bring back the old ballot papers for the sake of transparency," Abdullah said while speaking at the united opposition rally organised by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee at historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.

He also urged the political leaders present at the rally to fight together in the upcoming General Elections for the sake of saving the democracy and strengthen our country. "We have to fight and oust BJP. We have to come together to put up a one-to-one fight against it. We should fight together to strengthen our country," he said and hoped the new government will take the country forward.

He also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre of dividing people on religious grounds. "People are being branded as Pakistanis. But all people, right from Ladakh to elsewhere, want to continue in India, he said.

#UnitedIndiaAtBrigade Former Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, says: "The BJP is dividing people on the basis of religion. We must all come together to defeat the divisive forces"

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— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) January 19, 2019

"I am a Muslim and I love India, my country," the former chief minister added. He also slammed the BJP for doing nothing on the Women's Reservation Bill.

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Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora claimed that EVMs were being treated like a "football" by parties suffering electoral losses and said the voting equipment was foolproof.

"It is not possible to manipulate the EVMs. It is definitely foolproof as far as apprehensions of conspiracy and manipulation are concerned. But technical snags are possible as in case of any other device," he said. "But the incidence of snags has been very low. In the recent assembly polls in five states, 1.76 lakh EVMs were installed out of which only six reported the malfunction. The complaints were promptly taken care of," Arora claimed.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Farooq Abdullah said nowhere in the world is EVM used for voting
• Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora claimed that EVMs are foolproof
• Abdullah accused BJP at the Centre of dividing people on religious grounds