Vijayawada: Telugu Desam supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is leaving for Delhi on Thursday evening to attend a Supreme Court hearing on the PIL (public interest litigation) on the counting of VVPAT slips, scheduled for Friday.
Mr Naidu had filed the PIL asking for counting of VVPAT slips along with polled votes in EVMs. VVPAT is an independent verification system for voting machines to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly.
Other opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal are also likely to be in the Supreme Court on Friday. They have joined the PIL which the Chief Justice is going to hear.
Mr Naidu had raised apprehensions about the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). He had said that international cyber experts had warned that EVMs could be tampered with and had provided ample evidence of this. He said only after the Telugu Desam had brought up the issue that VVPAT receipts were counted. But the print on the receipt was very light and melted quickly, he said. Also, VVPAT was not available in all constituencies.
Mr Naidu had pointed out that 120 countries in the world did not use EVMs and only 20 countries used them. While his party encouraged technology, there is a danger of it being misused, he said, and warned that voters should be wary of EVMs.
On Wednesday, he said that all opposition parties are meeting in Delhi to chalk out an action plan on how to take on the ruling BJP and plan strategies for the post poll scenario.
