EVMs should be immediately banned: BSP chief Mayawati demands before Lok Sabha polls

Mayawati made the demands after Syed Shuja, a US-based cyber expert, claimed he was a part of the team which designed the EVMs used in India and said the 2014 general elections in the country were rigged.

In a statement released on Tuesday as quoted by News18, Mayawati said, “The mystery of EVM is now more serious after a London-based cyber expert claimed that EVMs were hacked in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. In the interest of the country, EVMs should be immediately banned. The tactic of ‘Vote Hamara, Raj Tumhara’ won’t work anymore and this issue should be resolved immediately.” 

BJP questions presence of Congress leader Kapil Sibal in London's EVM hackathon

“For free and fair elections, ballot papers should be brought back as they can be verified unlike the EVM votes. Taking into consideration the recent hacking controversy, the upcoming elections should be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs,” the BSP chief said.

Syed made the allegations during an EVM hackathon event on Monday.

EC denied allegations:

The Election Commission of India has denied allegations by an "expert" - in a news conference in London - that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in Indian elections can be tampered with.

"The ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about foolproof nature of ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India," the commission said.

"It needs to be reiterated that these EVMs are manufactured in Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) under very strict supervisory and security conditions and there are rigorous Standard Operating Procedures meticulously observed at all stages under the supervision of a Committee of eminent technical experts constituted way back in 2010," it added.