AAP stays mum on Kapil Mishra's corruption charges against Arvind Kejriwal, claims EVMs can be tampered with secret codes

During the day-long special session of the Delhi Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Saurabh Bharadwaj `demonstrated` how an EVM can be tampered with to rig results.

New Delhi: Amid corruption allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday staged a "live demonstration" of alleged Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manipulation in the Delhi Assembly.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, dared the Election Commission to give EVMs to the AAP which he said will change their motherboards in 90 seconds.

Speaking to the media outside the Delhi Assembly at the end of a day-long special session, Kejriwal, however, avoided answers on the bribery charges made against him by sacked minister Kapil Mishra.

He said Saurabh Bharadwaj, his party MLA, an engineer, had shown how chip technology could be tampered with and how EVMs could be tampered with.

The Election Commission, however, said the AAP demonstrated in the Delhi Assembly on prototype EVM and not on ECI's EVM, sources said. Let them prove their charges during the EVM hackathon challenge, ECI sources told CNN-News18.

Notably, the AAP has alleged that EVMs had been tampered with in the Punjab Assembly Elections and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, both of which it lost.

The Delhi Assembly adopted resolution appealing President and Election Commission to hold elections through paper trail equipped-EVMs. 

During the day-long special session of the Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Saurabh Bharadwaj, a former minister, `demonstrated` how an EVM can be tampered with to rig results.

The AAP MLA brought a prototype of what looked like an EVM used by the Election Commission and went on to claim that anyone knowing a "secret code" can tamper with the EVMs after a mock test. The code can be entered into a machine while casting a vote, he alleged.

He did not name the BJP but provided enough hints to insinuate that the Bharatiya Janata Party was the beneficiary.

"Using codes embedded in the EVMs they can be tampered with. Votes will go to a candidate in whose favour it has been rigged no matter which button you press," he said.

Bhardwaj, who represents the Greater Kailash constituency, claimed that in his capacity as an engineer, he had extensively worked in this area and was aware of how the machines can be fiddled with.

"I will show you how the machines on which the faith of democracy rests can be tampered with. An ordinary engineer like me with just 10-15 days of hard work can tamper with them to ensure that votes go only to one desired party or candidate," said Bhardwaj, who also told the Assembly that he had a B.Tech degree in computer science and that he had worked on microprocessors and micro-controllers.

Before Bhardwaj's demonstration, Kejriwal tweeted, "Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal the truth behind a big conspiracy in the country. Satyameva Jayate".

Though the debate was being held against the backdrop of bribery allegations levelled by sacked minister Kapil Mishra against Kejriwal, neither Bharadwaj nor any other AAP member spoke on the bribery allegations.

After Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta was marshalled out of the House, the lone BJP MLA present in the House Manjinder Singh Sirsa took serious objection to Bharadwaj's comments that Sirsa would have got elected because of EVM tampering in last month's by-poll to the Rajouri Garden seat.

The Election Commission has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.

Meanwhile, suspended AAP leader Kapil Mishra said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was adopting this tactic to shift the people`s attention from the corruption charges levelled against him.

"First, tell me the reason we lost? Is it because of the EVMs or the water. Till now he doesn`t know the reason.. Just because he is unable to win elections, he is going against democracy and the whole electoral process," he added.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vijender Gupta, who was marshalled out of the Assembly today, said, "Why is he demonstrating inside the building. He should have done in the public domain. He is just finding excuses to shift focus away from corruption charges. He should have demonstrated this in front of the election commission."