Congress and others trying to denigrate and dilute sanctity of our institution: Anil Antony

BJP leader Anil Antony, who lost the general elections from Pathanamthitta constituency, said on Tuesday that the Congress and other Opposition parties are trying to denigrate and dilute the sanctity of our institutions, including the Election Commission.

“Congress and the opposition have now come to a realisation that they will be in opposition for the next 5 years…  Congress and Opposition parties lost the election, they are trying to denigrate and dilute the sanctity of our institutions including the Election Commission,” he said.

He commented on this after the recent controversy regarding the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) following Elon Musk’s tweet suggesting that EVMs should be eliminated as there is always a risk of them being hacked, no matter how small.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described EVMs as a “black box” and said serious concerns had been raised about transparency in the country's electoral process.

Anil Antony further commented, “When in 2004 and 2009 the UPA governments came to power, EVMs were used. Even during the State elections, they used EVMs. They didn’t have any problem with EVMs then...”

He further clarified the controversy regarding Elon Musk’s statement and the response by BJP members, stating that it was in a “completely different context.” He explained that they were “talking about the American EVMs, which are not standalone machines like in India. They can be connected to a grid and a network.”

He defended Indian EVMs by saying, “The entire architecture and structure of Indian EVMs are different. They cannot be connected to a grid or network using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.”

Antony also pointed out that in the past, hundreds of experts have tried and verified that Indian EVMs cannot be hacked, and even the Supreme Court of India has passed a verdict in favour of EVMs. He expressed his disappointment, stating that since Congress and the opposition lost the elections, they are trying to dilute the sanctity of our institutions, including the Election Commission.