Musk's 'Eliminate EVMs' Post Sparks Online Debate As Rahul Gandhi, Rajeev Chandrasekhar Chip In

The debate over the reliability of EVMs has amplified with an X post from billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk.

Photo Credit: PTI

Musk's comment raised a flurry of reactions from key Indian political figures. The Tesla CEO said that EVMs pose a potential risk of being hacked and "should be eliminated", sparking responses from various quarters.

Former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was the MoS for Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in the previous Modi cabinet, refuted Musk's concerns, calling them a "huge sweeping generalisation" without basis.

"This is a huge sweeping generalization statement that implies no one can build secure digital hardware. Wrong. @elonmusk's view may apply to US n other places - where they use regular compute platforms to build Internet connected Voting machines. But Indian EVMs are custom designed, secure and isolated from any network or media - No connectivity, no bluetooth, wifi, Internet. ie there is no way in. Factory programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed (sic)," Chandrasekhar tweeted.

Chandrasekhar stressed on the distinction between EVMs used in India and those in other countries like the US. Chandrasekhar emphasised that Indian EVMs are custom-designed, secure, and completely isolated from any network or media, unlike standard computing platforms that may be connected to the internet.

He even extended an invitation to Musk for a tutorial to showcase the robustness of Indian EVMs, reported India Today.

"Electronic voting machines can be architected and built right as India has done. We wud be happy to run a tutorial Elon," he said.

Rahul Gandhi enters chat

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi came out and supported Musk's skepticism.

Gandhi has consistently questioned the authenticity of EVMs, referring to them as a "black box" and raising concerns about the transparency and accountability of the electoral process. He echoed Musk's concerns in a post on X, arguing that the lack of scrutiny and transparency around EVMs could undermine democracy and make it prone to fraud.

"EVMs in India are a 'black box,' and nobody is allowed to scrutinize them. Serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability," Gandhi's tweet read.

The controversy around EVMs in India is not new. During the recent Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition had alleged potential tampering of EVMs by the ruling BJP to influence poll outcomes. These allegations were firmly dismissed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who assured the public of the EVMs' safety, claiming they are "100% safe."