IMPHAL, April 23: The Naga People’s Front (NPF) Manipur on April 11emailed the Election Commission of India stating that the chief minister of Manipur O Ibobi Singh and his deputy CM Gaikhangam who is also the president of MPCC had openly stated that the Congress candidate Thangso Baite will win the II-Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency seat by a margin of 1.5 lakhs vote which was appeared in all local papers and TV channels, informed the party in a statement.
Since the statement was made just after the polls on April 9 last, the NPF has apprehensions that the EVMs may have been manipulated to their advantage, it said.
According to their assessment, the NPF candidate Soso Lorho has the maximum chances of winning the seat, it is mentioned in the email, informed the statement.
However, if the EVMs are manipulated as speculated in the past, it may jeopardise the free and fair election already held, the the party wrote int he email.
Further in the statement, the party has stated its apprehension is how the State CM and his Deputy CM predicted such secretly cast votes in advance?
It is highly probable that such prediction was being made beforehand while a workable solution for such prediction has already been in the offing, the email said while requesting for the ECI’s intervention.
Further according to the statement, the ECI had replied that the Election Commission of India has the constitutional duty to conduct free and fair election in the country, and also to ensure full transparency in the system.
It further mentioned that the Commission has assured the NPF that the use of EVMs in every election is completely free from any malpractice. For this, the Commission has put in place stringent administrative measures and procedural safeguard to prevent any possible tampering of the ECI-EVMs, it said.
It further continued that the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines in Indian Elections was made after wide consultation with Technical Experts and Political Parties.
Electronic Voting Machines are in use for more than two decades. They have been proved non-tamperable owing to their technical security and administrative safeguards, it further added.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/04/evms-tamperproof-eci-assures-npf/