Paper ballots, pre-poll alliances: Congress resolutions at 84th plenary

In its political resolution moved at the party's 84th Plenary Session, the Congress called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.

This is necessary as there are misgivings on "misuse" of EVMs to "manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict", the party said here during its 84th plenary session.

The Congress and other political parties have been alleging that EVMs were tampered during polls and demanding reintroduction of the ballot paper system of voting.

The party called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballots citing it was adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.

A resolution was also moved in this regard in the plenary session.

In its resolution, the party said the BJP's move of simultaneous elections is "misplaced" and is "incompatible with the Constitution as also impractical".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pressing upon the idea of holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, contending that it will save money and time.

The party also resolved to adopt a "pragmatic approach" for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolving a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election.

PTI