What if there's a mismatch of VVPAT & EVM: Opposition

New Delhi: After the Supreme Court rejected the review petition filed by the Opposition to review 50 per cent VVPAT slips in the Lok Sabha polls, the 21 political parties not willing to give up their fight for transparency met the Election Commission on Tuesday evening and asked them to frame guidelines on what it would do in case discrepancy was found in the VVPATs and EVMs.

They demanded that if any such discrepancy was found anywhere in the country, the declaration of results shall be withheld till 100% counting of paper slips of VVPATs of all polling stations of that assembly segment in that parliamentary constituency are counted and cross checked, so that the voters' confidence is restored and credibility, transparency and robustness of institutional mechanism of counting process is re-established.

Speaking to media, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said each Assembly segment has 14 tables of counting which means time taken for counting will be the same whether it is five VVPATs or 70. "It was absolutely critical for the EC to work transparently to ensure free and fair elections," Naidu said.

The Election Commission should be responsible for the honest execution of the Supreme Court's April 8 order.

In case of any discrepancy, voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips should be matched with EVM results in the entire constituency, the Telugu Desam Party chief said.

On the EC's claim that the counting of all VVPAT slips may delay the results by five days, Naidu said, "It's just a matter of a few days. The poll panel should choose credibility and transparency over other things."

The TDP had earlier alleged large-scale EVM malfunctioning in Andhra Pradesh during the April 11 elections for the 25 Lok Sabha seats and to elect a new 175-member Assembly.

Those who met the EC on Tuesday include National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, CPI leader D Raja and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.