SIR: Who said what during the showdown in the Lok Sabha? “Count all VVPATs or revert to paper ballots.”

SIR: Opposition parties questioned the legitimacy, openness, and impartiality of the current process during Tuesday’s heated discussion in the Lok Sabha over the Special Intensive Revision standards for electoral record updating. A number of MPs called for responsibility from the ECI and clarification from the administration.

The discussion was made more urgent by worries about the well-being of booth-level officials. Numerous states have documented an increase in health-related events among BLOs, including cardiac arrest and suicides linked to increasing job pressure. A heated debate broke out in the legislative session as lawmakers brought attention to the extreme stress that BLOs endure throughout the SIR procedure.

Manish Tewari, a Congress MP, termed it “unfortunate that many members here are having to raise questions on the neutrality of the Election Commission of India.” He maintained that changing the election commissioners’ selection procedure should be the first step in rebuilding public trust, saying that “an amendment to the law governing the selection of members of the Election Commission is the first reform that should happen.” I propose that the Chief Justice of India and the LoP Lok Sabha be included on the Election Commission committee.

“SIR is ongoing in many states in the country, but the Election Commission of India has no legal justification to hold SIR,” Tewari said, casting doubt on the present revision exercise’s legal foundation. “I demand the government present before the Parliament the reasons in writing for conducting SIR in different constituencies,” he said, demanding that the government provide a written explanation of their reasoning.

According to Tewari, the public was worried about potential manipulation of the computerized voting process. “The public is worried that EVMs may be manipulated, but I’m not suggesting that EVMs are being influenced. Our only options are to guarantee 100% VVPAT matching or return to ballot paper. I have yet to get a response to my question on who keeps the EVM source codes.
The human cost of the program was emphasized by Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav, who said that “till now, 10 BLOs have lost their lives in the state during the ongoing SIR process.”

He insisted on payment and assistance for their families. “We demand that families of the deceased BLOs be given Rs 1 crore as ex gratia amount and govt job be given to one member of the deceased’s family.”
As the administration gets ready for its official answer, the discussion is anticipated to rage on.