Empty Vessels Make More Noise

It is time our politicians, at least those who are fast turning old like AICC former president Rahul Gandhi, develop some scientific temper. When Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be hacked and should be eliminated, Rahul instantly reacted, saying EVMs in India are a “black box” which nobody is allowed to scrutinise, and asserted that “serious concerns” are being raised about transparency in the country’s electoral process. Congress’ ally and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also questioned the credibility of EVMs and demanded that all future elections should be conducted through ballot papers. This reminds me of the Telugu adage “Adugo Puli - Idugo Thoka,” (One says there is panther, another says hey here is its tail).

Rahul and Congress party first need to explain why the Congress government, which was in power between 2004 and 2014 when the UPA government led by Congress party was in power, did not abolish it. Rahul who tore off an ordinance which was brought by the UPA government in 2013 to shield convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification from the House should have given the call to dump EVMs. The parliament then could have amended the Constitution again and done away with the EVMs.

It has become a fashion for political parties to praise EVMs when they win and blame them when they lose. What is more, whether it is Rahul or anyone else who blames EVMs has so far failed to provide evidence that they can be tampered with. But they don’t stop making noise.

“We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high,” Musk said, quoting a post by US presidential contender Robert F Kennedy Jr who initially wrote about EVM irregularities during elections in Puerto Rico. This is what Musk said and Rahul reacted. But the big question is whether our EVMs can be connected to Bluetooth. Experts say no. Then how can one hack them using Bluetooth or AI?

The history of EVMs dates back to 1977 when CEC Sham Lal Shakdher asked ECIL to develop a prototype of a voting machine. In 1980, ECIL developed the prototype and demonstrated it to political parties. In 1982, it was used in Paravur assembly election in Kerala. In 1983, EVMs were made based on common design. The Supreme Court in1984 said they cannot be used without change of law and the then the government in 1998 made amendments to the law based on consensus. The Congress was also part of the consensus. They were used in 15 legislative constituencies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. During the same year, the Parliament lowered the voting age. Their use was expanded to more places in 1999 and in the 2004 general elections they were used across the country.

The Congress came to power when people voted through EVMs. It was in power for 10 years. If EVMs are black boxes, why didn’t the Congress government scrap them? Why did he not make a demand that they be scrapped? Why did the Congress use them again in 2009 elections? When will these double standards stop in this country?

There is a point in what former BJP minister Chandrasekhar said. He said Musk’s assertion was a “huge sweeping generalisation.” He said Musk’s concerns might apply to countries where voting machines were built using standard computing platforms with Internet connectivity; whereas, they do not apply to India. “Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media. There is no connectivity, no Bluetooth, wifi, Internet, i.e., there is no way in. Factory-programmed controllers cannot be reprogrammed.” If at all, any debate has to take place it should be on the technology used and the Rahul-led INDIA bloc should come up with proper scientific evidence, not sweeping statements. They should not resort to ruckus in Parliament, which has become a routine practice for the opposition. It is time Rahul and Akhilesh kind of leaders emulate L K Advani or Atal Behari Vajpayee who used to refer to several books and take opinion of experts before speaking in Parliament. Now, the situation is one of ‘empty vessels make more noise.’