Maharashtra
‘EVMs Cannot Be Hacked,’ Says Maharashtra’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni On Opposition Allegations
Mumbai: Amid the Opposition’s allegations regarding Electronic Voting Machines after the Maharashtra polls in which the ruling Mahayuti alliance registered a landslide victory, state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni has asserted that EVMs cannot be hacked.
He said that the chips used in the EVMs are one-time programmable, making tampering impossible.
“I say this with full responsibility, EVM cannot be hacked. EVM cannot be tampered with. There is a simple reason for this. First, it is a standalone machine …no connection with any network or outer gadget. So, hacking or tampering is not possible. Second, the chip used in it is one-time programmable, so there cannot be any reprogramming,” Kulkarni told ANI on Tuesday.
He further said that there was no need for misunderstandings regarding EVMs since Election Commission of India (ECI) dictates a procedure that allows for matching of the Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) count and votes a candidate has received through EVMs.
This process is observed to ensure there was no discrepancy in these figures, Kulkarni said, while adding that this procedure of comparing the number of votes through VVPAT slips and EVM votes is undertaken before the declaration of the final results.
“There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings among political parties and common citizens regarding EVM. But there is no need for such misunderstandings…When votes are counted and the counting of votes of all EVMs concludes, after that, before the declaration of the result there is a procedure which is prescribed by the Election Commission of India. The procedure says that a lottery is drawn by collecting numbers of all the polling stations in the Assembly constituencies. This lottery is drawn in the presence of the Observer and representatives of all candidates of political parties. Of these, 5 polling stations are selected and VVPAT machines for the 5 polling stations are brought to the counting area. In the presence of everyone, the VVPAT slips are taken out and counted. Which candidate got how many votes as per the slips is counted. This number is matched with the votes voted through EVMs. This is observed that there is no discrepancy in these two figures…The voting in Maharashtra Assembly elections was done in the proper manner by following proper procedure…” Kulkarni said.
Maharashtra Chief Election Office S Chockalingam Rejects Opposition Allegations
Earlier, the Chief Election Officer (CEO) S Chockalingam on Tuesday rejected Opposition allegations regarding the legitimacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the Maharashtra assembly elections and said “no mismatch” was found between the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) slips with their corresponding EVM numbers.
In a statement, the Maharashtra CEO explained that, as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, it is mandatory to count VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations in each assembly constituency.
“VVPAT Slip count of randomly selected five polling stations per Assembly Constituency was conducted on November 23, during the counting procedure, in front of the Counting Observer / Representatives of Candidates. As per that, the slip count of 1440 VVPAT units from 288 Assembly Constituencies of Maharashtra State has been tallied with respective Control Unit data,” Chockalingam said.
“There is no discrepancy found between the VVPAT slip count and EVM Control unit count as per the reports received from the concerned DEOs,” Chockalingam added.
About The Row
This comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance partners raised questions about the legitimacy of EVMs following their defeat in the Maharashtra assembly election 2024.
The Mahayuti alliance, led by the BJP, secured a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections with the BJP emerging as the largest party with 132 seats in the 280-member Assembly, while its allies–the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar–won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback as Congress won only 16 seats, while its alliance partners, Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) secured just 10 seats.
Maharashtra
Gaonthan land map certificate distribution program under “Swamitva” scheme was concluded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
Thane: Under the “Swamitva” scheme conceptualized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for demarcation and ownership of properties in the Gaonthan land area, the Gaonthan Land Map Certificate Distribution Program was organized today through video conferencing by Prime Minister Modi. The certificate distribution program for Thane district was organized locally at the Niyojan Bhavan of the District Magistrate Office in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
MP Naresh Mhaske, MLA Sanjay Kelkar, MLA Niranjan Davkhare, District Magistrate Ashok Shingare, Chief Executive Officer Rohan Ghuge, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Swamitva Scheme: A Movement for Rural Development
This scheme simplifies the process of demarcation and ownership of properties in rural areas. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “Even today, many citizens in villages do not have concrete proof of their properties, which leads to land disputes, court cases and other problems. The ownership scheme launched by the Modi government is an important revolution in the development of rural India.”
He further said, “This scheme is not just a certificate of property, but a ‘self-respect card’ for the poor. Through this scheme, the lives of many families have changed and the doors of banks have opened for them for property loans.”
Use of drone and GIS technology
Modern technology is being widely used in the Swamitva scheme. Village land is surveyed through drones and maps are prepared with GIS technology. 2.19 crore property cards have been prepared in the country and maps of 15,327 villages have been finalized in Maharashtra.
Beneficiaries got relief
Referring to Baliram Manekar of Bhiwandi, who was present at the program, Shinde said, “Under the Swamitva scheme, he got the ownership of his land, after which he got a loan of 60 lakhs from the bank and he became self-reliant.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address
Addressing the program through video conferencing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The Swamitva scheme is proving to be effective in making people economically capable in rural areas. This scheme is achieving the goal of making the rural community self-reliant.”
Instructions of the Deputy Chief Minister
At the end of the program, Deputy Chief Minister Shinde instructed the officials that “Proper planning should be done to complete the scheme within the time limit and in the right manner. This scheme should not be just on paper, but should become a strong step towards the development of rural areas.”
Giving momentum to rural development
This scheme is helping in resolving village disputes by preparing property cards in rural areas. It is also providing guidance to the village panchayats for development plans.
The program concluded under the guidance of Deputy Chief Minister Shinde. Officials of the District Officer Office, Land Records Department and District Council made tireless efforts for this successful event.
Maharashtra
Integrated ticket system for urban traffic – Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a dream of bringing the public transport system on a single mobility platform and efforts are underway to develop infrastructure in Mumbai in this direction. Through this, passengers will get the benefit of public transport facilities by walking only 300 to 500 meters. This is an ambitious project to provide fast and smooth transport service from one end to the other, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The integrated ticket service system in Mumbai was discussed in the presence of Chief Minister Fadnavis and Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav. Mitrache Chief Executive Officer Pravin Singh Pardeshi, Secretary of Chief Minister’s Office Dr. Shrikar Pardeshi, officials of Central, Western Railway and Mumbai Metro were present in this meeting.
Chief Minister Fadnavis said, “Local rail is the lifeline for Mumbai. The integrated service system will make connectivity fast and smooth for passengers and at the same time will lead to maximum use of public services and increase revenue. Efforts are being made to integrate this system with taxi and other services using technology.” Through this, passengers will easily get all the transport facilities on a single platform. It will be possible to simplify the traffic and save time of the passengers, as well as remove the obstacles in the traffic system.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, “Currently 3,500 local services are operational in Mumbai. Railways will invest Rs 17,107 crore to start 300 more local services in the coming time. Rs 1.70 lakh crore has been invested in railway projects in Maharashtra. The central and state governments are committed to the overall development of Mumbai.”
The Maharashtra government is taking important steps towards implementing a unified ticketing system for urban traffic. This venture will be led by the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA). Its objective is to integrate and streamline the ticketing process for various public transport services. For this, technical assistance of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform will be taken.
Mumbai’s public transport service will be more smooth and efficient through the new integrated ticketing system.
Maharashtra
If celebrities in Mumbai and sarpanches in villages are not safe, then what will happen to the common people?: Nana Patole
Mumbai: The law and order situation in Maharashtra has deteriorated at this time. While celebrities are not safe in Mumbai, sarpanches are unsafe in villages. In such a situation, what will be the condition of common citizens, this question has been raised by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Nana Patole. While talking to the media in Nagpur, Patole fiercely targeted the state government.
Jungle Raj and attack on BJP government
Nana Patole said that a situation of jungle raj has arisen in Maharashtra. Today in Delhi, Maharashtra is being discussed in the name of jungle raj, which is very unfortunate. The BJP government has created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the state to remain in power. Law and order has completely collapsed. Criminals have no fear of the police. He alleged that 65% of the ministers in the cabinet have criminal background, due to which the situation has gone out of control.
Do not link the attack on Saif Ali Khan to caste issue
Referring to the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan, Patole said that it is wrong to see this incident from a caste perspective. There is no place for caste and religion discrimination in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Maharashtra. People of all castes and religions should get a safe environment here.
Murder of Sarpanch and issue of casteism
Referring to the murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh and the death of Somnath Suryavanshi in Parbhani due to police beating, Patole said that it is not right to link these incidents with casteism. The BJP government has promoted the Maratha-OBC dispute, leaving behind the basic issues of the state.
Question on ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme
Commenting on the ‘Ladki Behan’ scheme, Patole said that this scheme was started to get the support of sisters during the assembly elections. But now questions are being raised on the transparency of this scheme. He asked why did the BJP not investigate its flaws before the elections? Talking about taking back money from bogus beneficiaries shows the real face of the BJP government.
Question on Davos visit
Regarding the Davos visit of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Patole said that instead of taking industrialists to Davos, the state should improve the situation in Maharashtra. The BJP government claims that Maharashtra ranks first in the field of industry, but the truth is that the state has lagged behind economically. The wastage of public money in the name of investment should be stopped.
Concern over the safety of common citizens
Expressing concern over the law and order of the state, Patole said that if celebrities and sarpanches are not safe, then what will happen to the safety of common citizens? The poor law and order situation and increasing crime raise questions on the functioning of the government.
Appeal to raise voice against the government
Instead of getting embroiled in caste disputes, the public should raise voice against the government. Patole called upon the people of the state to unite and oppose the BJP government.
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