Siddaramaiah defends K'taka govt's decision to revert to old ballot system, asks why BJP fears it

Koppal (Karnataka), Sep 6 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday sought to know why the BJP is afraid of ballot paper, while defending his government's decision to revert to the old system of voting during elections for the local body polls, instead of using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The Congress government in Karnataka on Thursday decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold all the future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state using ballot paper, instead of EVMs.

"Have other countries that are using ballot paper gone back to the stone age? Have America and other advanced countries returned to the stone age? Why are they (BJP) afraid of ballot paper?" Siddaramaiah asked.

He was responding to the BJP comparing his government's decision to use ballot paper, to going back to "stone age".

Addressing reporters here, he said, "Statements that we will go back to the stone age by using ballot paper is not right." "We are saying from our experience that a lot of injustice is happening (in polls). There are issues with the voters' list, Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader) is fighting against it in Bihar, where assembly elections are scheduled to take place. He (Gandhi) had explained how the Congress lost in Mahadevapura assembly segment (in Bengaluru)," he added.

The government has cited erosion of confidence and credibility among people towards EVMs as the reason for the decision to go back to ballot paper.

The Cabinet has also decided to authorise the state election commission to "prepare, revise and if necessary redo" the electoral rolls for local body polls, citing discrepancies in electoral rolls and allegations of "vote theft".

After its loss in the Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, the Congress has expressed doubts over the EVM’s infallibility and the election outcome. It has demanded a return to the paper ballot.

Amid the row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently alleged that elections are being "stolen" in India and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of "votes theft" by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which had resulted in a huge political controversy. PTI KSU ROH