‘Chat bhi meri, pat bhi meri’: Jyotiraditya Scindia attacks Rahul Gandhi over EVM hack allegations | Latest News India

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia attacked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on electronic voting machines (EVMs) and said the people of the country are aware that the Congress party will blame attacks on EVMs in case of electoral defeat.

This came shortly after Gandhi responded to a post by billionaire Elon Musk pointing out the risks of EVM hacking by humans or artificial intelligence.

While attacking Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “Chat bhi meri, pat bhi meri’, this will not work always. Whoever wins the EVM is a hero and if he loses the EVM. The people of the country are now aware of this policy of the Congress party, that is why they have formed a BJP government for the third time with full majority…”

Scindia’s remarks come amid a spat over allegations of vote-rigging sparked by a tweet from Elon Musk and a media report claiming that the Shiv Sena candidate in the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency was caught using a mobile phone “linked” to an electronic voting machine during the counting of votes on June 4.

In his recent X-post, Elon Musk said, “We should do away with electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while low, is still too high.” Tagging this post by Tesla CEO, Gandhi wrote, “Democracy becomes a farce and vulnerable to fraud when institutions are not accountable.” The Congress leader also attached the media report alleging EVM hacking in Mumbai.

As opposition leaders joined forces to attack the central government over alleged EVM hacking attacks, former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar countered Musk’s criticism of the electronic voting machines, saying that the risks of using EVMs could be in the US and other places where they are using regular computer platforms to build “internet-connected voting machines”.

Chandrasekhar said in an X-post, “But Indian EVMs are custom-built, secure and isolated from any network or media – no connectivity, no Bluetooth, WiFi, internet. That means there is no way in. Factory programmed controllers that cannot be reprogrammed.”

“Electronic voting machines can be designed and built the way India has done. We would love to conduct a tutorial, Elon,” the BJP leader added.

(With contributions from agencies)