Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has joined the chorus of voices expressing concerns over the security of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in India. On Sunday, Gandhi echoed Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s stance on EVMs, claiming that they are a ‘black box’ in India. His statement came in response to Musk’s tweet where he advocated for the elimination of EVMs due to potential hacking risks. Musk had responded to a post by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate for President of the United States, who raised concerns over alleged irregularities in Puerto Rico’s primary elections.
Gandhi shared a news report detailing an incident where a relative of Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Waikar, who won the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North West constituency by 48 votes, was allegedly using a phone connected to an EVM. This incident, according to Gandhi, reinforces his argument that EVMs in India are a ‘black box’ and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them. He further asserted that serious concerns are being raised about transparency in the Indian electoral process. Gandhi added that democracy becomes a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability.
The Congress leader’s post on X garnered significant attention, with over 20,000 users liking it and over 8,000 commenting on it. While some users agreed with Gandhi’s concerns, others questioned his stance on EVMs.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, reacting to Musk’s post, countered that Musk’s view is a huge generalization and implied that secure digital hardware cannot be built. Chandrashekhar explained that Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure, and isolated from any network or media. They are factory-programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed, he asserted, suggesting that Musk should attend a tutorial on the subject. The controversy surrounding EVMs has sparked debate on the reliability of the machines and the need for greater transparency in Indian elections.
