Defeated MVA candidates to request verification of EVM-VVPAT units following poll results

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The Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates who faced defeat in the recent Maharashtra Elections 2024 have decided to seek verification of the EVM-Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) units in their segments, a leader of the opposition alliance said, PTI reported.

As per ANI, many losing candidates of the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) blamed the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during their interaction with party chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday.

Thackeray scrutinised the dull performance of his party at a meeting that took place at his Mumbai residence.

The election result last week saw the Mahayuti coalition, consisting of Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, retaining power with a huge mandate, pushing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on the edge.

The Mahayuti won 230 seats and MVA only 46 in the 288 assembly seats of Maharashtra, PTI reported.

The Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) emerged as the largest party in the opposition alliance by winning 20 seats, followed by Congress which secured 16 seats, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP won 10 seats.

Talking to PTI on Tuesday, Congress leader and candidate from Chandivali, Arif Naseem Khan, who lost the election claimed that he held a discussion with Thackeray, adding that he has got complaints from his party workers that EVMs could have been tampered with.

"We are getting complaints from different parts of the state expressing doubts over the results. In a democracy, complaints need to be verified and many of us, including myself, (who faced defeat) are in the process of applying for the verification," Khan said.

According to the Supreme Court's decision on April 26 this year, the burnt memory/microcontroller in 5% of the EVMs - the control unit, ballot unit, and VVPAT - per assembly constituency must be checked and verified by a team of engineers from the EVM manufacturers after the results are announced for any tampering or modification, he said.

A written petition for this has to be made by candidates who are in second or third position behind the highest polled candidate, PTI reported.

Such a request has to be made within seven days of the result verdict, Khan said.

A candidate making the petition will have to pay a fee of Rs 41,00 which will be refunded is the machine is found to be tampered with, He said, PTI cited.

The microcontroller is a one-time programmable chip embedded into the three units of the EVM-Ballot Unit, Control Unit and the VVPAT during manufacturing, as per SC.

A Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Mumbai has claimed that there were inconsistencies between the votes polled and votes counted in the EVMs.

"Almost all candidates raised doubts over the EVMs," the legislator said, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)