Case against Shinde Sena MP's brother-in-law for 'using phone to unlock EVM'

Chandrasekhar asserted that this is not the case in India, where EVMs are custom-designed, secure, and isolated from any network or media.

The Mumbai Police has registered a case against Mangesh Pandilkar, the brother-in-law of newly elected Mumbai North West Lok Sabha MP Ravindra Waikar, for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre on June 4, the day when the Lok Sabha election results were announced.

Pandilkar allegedly used the mobile phone inside the counting centre in the Goregaon area in Mumbai. According to police sources, the phone was used to generate a One-Time Password (OTP) to unlock an EVM at the counting centre.

The phone may have been used to generate the OTP, which is being investigated by the police, sources said. The phone was also used to handle data and calls were also made, they said.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, in a post on X, had raised concerns about electronic voting machines, suggesting they should be eliminated due to the potential risk of being hacked by humans or AI, even if the risk is minimal.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who served as Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in Modi Cabinet 2.0, countered Musk’s view, stating it might apply to the US and other regions where standard computing platforms are used to build "Internet-connected voting machines."

However, Chandrasekhar asserted that this is not the case in India, where EVMs are custom-designed, secure, and isolated from any network or media.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, "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."