Local Goa News

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Assembly election: Churchill for use of VVPAT-fitted EVMs

MARGAO: Former chief minister  Churchill  Alemao, on Tuesday, demanded with the  Chief Election  Commissioner (CEC) to make use of   electronic voting machines fitted with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices at all  Goa’s 1600  polling booths for fair and just elections.

Speaking to media in  Margao a day ahead of the scheduled visit  of the officials of Election Commission to the state to see the poll  preparedness,  Alemao said,  “It is known that the VVPAT-fitted EVMs will be used only at 284  polling booths during the forthcoming election.  But my  demand is that the Election Commission of India  shall make provision for using such VVPAT-fitted EVMs at all the 1600 polling booths.”
He further  said that  during the last  assembly election, there were apprehensions that  EVMs  were malfunctioning,  leading to marking of votes to the candidates other than the one  chosen by the voters, which led to an impression  that the wrong candidates became victorious.
Alemao, who  had alleged that EVMs had been misused and that was the reason for his defeat, added  that he  will try to   meet the Election  Commission  officials  and explain about the   earlier EVM incidents.
“I am demanding that such VVPAT-fitted EVMs  be  used on a priority in the Benaulim constituency,” he said.
Commenting on his possible entry into the Congress fold, he  said,“I will decide after  September 30 for the  Congress party to consider my offer. I will take my supporters into confidence and  based on their suggestions, I would be taking an appropriate decision.”
He said  that though  Luizinho Faleiro and  he   have maintained family relations, their political  views may differ.
“As a family, we are united. But politically, our views may be different,” he added, when asked  about his offer to the Congress over the  ticket issue.
Speaking further, Alemao alleged that  “the AAP is  related to the  RSS, and hence the people of Goa would not accept them in the  electoral battle.”
“Even Delhi CM  Arvind  Kejriwal’s relatives are with the  RSS,” he added.

NT Network Goa News

No comments:

Post a Comment