Former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has strongly rebutted billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk’s recent comments on electronic voting machines (EVMs), dismissing them as unfounded generalizations.
Musk had expressed concerns about EVMs on X, suggesting they should be eliminated due to the risk of hacking by humans or AI, despite minimal risk. In response, Chandrasekhar, who previously served in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Modi government, disagreed with Musk’s viewpoint. He emphasized that while Musk’s concerns might be valid for countries like the US, where standard computing platforms are used for Internet-connected voting machines, the situation in India is different.
Chandrasekhar clarified that Indian EVMs are custom-designed to be secure and operate in isolation from any network or media. They lack connectivity features like Bluetooth, WiFi, or Internet access, ensuring no external interference. He highlighted that these EVMs use factory-programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed, further enhancing their security.
Expressing confidence in the integrity of Indian EVMs, Chandrasekhar offered to provide Musk with a tutorial on their robust architecture. In response to Musk’s terse comment, “Anything can be hacked,” Chandrasekhar reiterated his stance on the security measures employed in Indian EVMs.
The controversy extended to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who supported Musk’s concerns, describing Indian EVMs as a “black box” with insufficient transparency. BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya responded by challenging Musk to attempt hacking Indian EVMs through the Election Commission of India, dismissing Gandhi’s claims and reaffirming the safety of EVMs used in recent elections.
The issue arose amidst allegations during the recent Lok Sabha elections, with the Opposition accusing the ruling BJP of tampering with EVMs. Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar reiterated that EVMs are “100% safe” in response to these concerns.
