Gurugram: As the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) elections draw near, the Panthic Dal (Jhinda group), one of the key players in the 19 January polls, has expressed a lack of faith in the poll process through electronic voting machines (EVMs) and demanded that voting take place through ballots.
Jagdish Singh Jhinda, the president of the group, submitted a memorandum to the Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Tuesday, demanding elections by ballot papers instead of EVMs, as has been announced. The headquarters of the HSGMC are in Kurukshetra.
The memorandum, signed by Jhinda and other members of the Panthic Dal, stated: “I would like to bring to your attention that elections are scheduled in Haryana on 19 January 2025. We have serious concerns regarding the misuse of electronic voting machines (EVMs), which might disrupt the democratic process. We believe that EVMs can be manipulated and hacked, which will harm the sanctity of free and fair elections.”
“In order to maintain trust among the people and ensure transparency, we request that the elections be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs,” it added, appealing that the matter be taken “seriously and concerns forwarded to the Election Commission”.
“The integrity of elections is paramount, and using ballot papers will restore people’s confidence in the democratic system,” the memorandum further said.
Contacted by ThePrint Wednesday, Jhinda said it was not just the Panthic Dal that was wary of EVMs; rather, the entire country lacked trust in the machines and political parties were moving court against their use.
When reminded that the Supreme Court has already dismissed petitions against the use of EVMs, Jhinda said he would not like to comment on the court and asserted that “the entire country knows about the manipulation in EVMs in the Maharashtra assembly elections”.
“When I started meeting my followers to scout winnable candidates for the HSGMC elections, most of them asked me ‘what will you achieve by fighting the elections when these are to be held with EVMs?’. They told me that the results will anyway be the way the BJP government in Haryana wants them to be,” he alleged.
Jhinda was among the first few Sikhs from Haryana — who launched a campaign for a separate gurdwara management body for Sikh shrines in the state by getting the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (Adhoc) registered in 2003.
Later, in 2014, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Act.
Amending the Act, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Amendment Bill, 2022, paving the way for nomination of an adhoc management committee.
The first election to the committee will now to be held on 19 January.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Developed countries has discarded use of EVM. In our country there are often more or less votes are found while counting than the polled votes. No action seems to be taken is such cases.
Nonsense.
Enough is enough. Same old story continues. Ironically, despite the honourable SC giving clean chit to ECI over the use of EVMs, such self serving demands continue to raise head again and again. Needless to say, no one should be allowed to raise the bogey of paper ballots till he/she is able to conclusively prove the tempering aspects of the EVMs