The Hindu : National : I have said so before, says Mamata

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 06, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

I have said so before, says Mamata

Ananya Dutta

KOLKATA: Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told journalists here on Sunday that she was always circumspect about the possibility of the tampering of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Asked for her comments on a reported statement in New Delhi earlier in the day by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader that questions being raised about the functioning of EVMs should be taken seriously, she said: “I have said so before…But no one listens when I raise such issues.”

Alleging that CPI(M) members tampered with EVMs in the past, she said, “they are complaining now because they are unable to do it anymore, or out of fear that they may be caught.”

On the subject of reverting back to ballot papers, she said ballot papers were being used in panchayat polls.

She had raised the issue of the tampering of the EVMs with the Election Commission and it assured her that it was impossible to rig the new voting machines that were brought into use. Ms. Banerjee said the democratic right of the people to cast their vote needed to be safeguarded.

“The people should be able to vote for whoever they like. It is the democratic right of a citizen, and whatever decision the Election Commission takes to ensure this will be acceptable to us,” she said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National