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AAP's EVM drama in Delhi Assembly was a flop show

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Arindam De
Arindam DeMay 09, 2017 | 18:43

AAP's EVM drama in Delhi Assembly was a flop show

We know the story of Aladdin and the genie, don't we? It granted Aladdin's wishes; all of them.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has found his genie — the humble Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) of the Election Commission. The tirade against EVMs today, witnessed in the Delhi Assembly, has got nothing to do with their faults or shortcomings. It has got everything to do with maintaining Arvind Kejriwal's by now well-known strategy of shoot and scoot.

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The forum is well-chosen. Whatever is discussed in the Assembly or the Parliament is not prosecutable under the law of the land. So, no matter how baselessly, how fraudulently you end up bashing an institution, in this case the Election Commission of India, you are at no risk of being dragged to court.

With a brute majority in the Delhi Assembly, the AAP is sure that there would be no dissenting voices. So you can berate a constitutional body which is noted for its neutrality worldwide.

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The anti-EVM drive is a snipe at Delhi voters. Photo: Twitter/AAP

Let us try and see another aspect of this tirade against EVMs. Or supposedly misplaced votes.

The greater issue behind berating a constitutional body and a contraption that has drawn applause from none other than the highest court of the country for its role in flushing out corruption and malpractice from the electoral procedure is that the tirade of parties like AAP, BSP, SP and sadly, even the Congress is not against the EVMs, it is against us, the people.

These parties have failed to get the popular mandate mainly because of their casteist bias, lack of focus on development et al. They are sniping at the voters of the country.

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Despite their professed love for democracy, it seems fair to them that voters should be berated and rebuked for not choosing them.

As for Kejriwal, before the Delhi municipal polls, he threatened the voters saying that if their children were struck down by malaria, dengue or chikungunya, their vote for BJP would be responsible.

How dare he threaten the voters whose franchise his position depends? He got his reply. However, it seems he is well past the age of self-reform.

Today, by launching an anti-EVM drive in the Assembly, he has once again rebuked the voter of Delhi as also the electors all over the country.

What can we say about the charges made in the Delhi Assembly? If AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj was so keen, he could have been a part of the hackathon proposed by the EC.

By saying that every EVM can be pre-programmed in connivance with the presiding officer, he is suggesting that every presiding officer in every polling booth of the country is a cheat, and that includes some AAP supporters too.

The MLA termed every state and central election commission staffer a cheat. This goes for the security personnel, district collectors and all other staff involved in the election procedure.

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By doing so, the esteemed AAP MLA has, from his constitutionally-sanctioned seat and position, insulted the Constitution of the country.

It was surprising he did not offer an explanation as to how AAP, without any connection or outreach, managed to win 67 seats in 2015. Because the probabilities he offered today in the august house were valid in 2015 too.

Last updated: May 09, 2017 | 18:49
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