The Election Commission of India (ECI) has firmly rejected allegations of EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) manipulation in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, asserting that no discrepancies were found between the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slip count and EVM data.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra emphasized that the VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations per Assembly Constituency were counted and tallied as per guidelines issued by the ECI and the Supreme Court.
On November 23, VVPAT slips from 1,440 polling stations across the state’s 288 Assembly Constituencies were manually matched with EVM control unit data. The ECI reported no mismatches, confirming the accuracy of the electronic voting process.
Opposition Allegations
The opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)—raised concerns about alleged irregularities, claiming EVM manipulation and misuse of power skewed the election results. The MVA secured only 46 seats, compared to the Mahayuti alliance’s overwhelming victory with 230 seats.
Sharad Pawar, the NCP (SP) chief, alleged unprecedented levels of “misuse of power and money” to control the election mechanism. The NCP (SP) plans to collect documentary evidence and pursue legal action to challenge the election process.
Election Results
The Mahayuti alliance, composed of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), achieved a decisive victory in the Assembly elections. The results have prompted the opposition to demand greater scrutiny of the election process.
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The ECI has reiterated the robustness of its electoral system, highlighting that VVPAT slips act as a transparent mechanism to ensure the accuracy of EVMs, eandomized manual VVPAT counts serve as an additional layer of verification and the adherence to Supreme Court directives ensures accountability.
Despite the ECI’s reassurances, the opposition is determined to investigate further. The NCP (SP) has set up a legal team to assist candidates in gathering evidence of alleged irregularities.
The MVA plans to intensify its campaign for electoral reforms, aiming to restore voter confidence.
This episode underscores the persistent mistrust surrounding EVMs in India’s electoral landscape, despite repeated validations of their reliability by the ECI and independent experts.
