"Can we entrust country's elections to hackers?": Digvijaya Singh raises doubts over EVMs

Sharing a media report on X, claiming a disinformation campaign using Israeli software to manipulate elections across the globe, the Congress leader raised doubts over the fairness of polling in India.

He wrote, "Can we entrust the country's elections to hackers in today's era of advanced technology? Just think about it. Shouldn't we conduct India's elections using ballot papers, that is, voting papers?"

Singh demanded that the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips be handed over to the voters.

"Or shouldn't we give the VVPAT slip of EVMs into our hands? Is this the demand of @INCIndia from @ECISVEEP? Isn't this demand justified? Just think about it. Jai Siya Ram. Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan," the X post read.

Digvijaya Singh's remarks come amid Rahul Gandhi's allegations of an attempt to delete over 6000 votes in Karnataka's Aland.

"In Aland, Karnataka, 6018 votes, somebody tried to delete these votes. We don't know the total number of votes deleted in the 2023 elections, but somebody got caught. It was caught, by most crimes, by coincidence. What happened was that the Booth Level officer noticed that her uncle's vote had been deleted. When she checked, she saw that her neighbour had deleted the vote," Rahul Gandhi said during a press conference.

Gandhi also alleged that he is "getting help" from people who are working for the Election Commission of India (ECI) in uncovering alleged vote fraud in the country.

However, the Election Commission firmly rejected all allegations, clarifying that no voter's name can be deleted online by any member of the public.

"Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Rahul Gandhi. No deleting can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person," the ECI said in a statement. (ANI)