Home Unbreak The News

General Elections 2024: Was the Mandate Stolen from the People?

General Elections 2024: On this episode of Unbreak the News with Prema Sridevi, Former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam reveals shocking discrepancies and potential manipulations in the voting process as per the report released by Vote for Democracy.

By Prema Sridevi
New Update
Listen to this article
0.75x 1x 1.5x
00:00 / 00:00

General Elections 2024: Did the Government Have the People's Mandate?

Prema Sridevi: I have with me Mr. M.G. Devasahayam. Devasahayam is a former Army officer and a former IAS officer and has worked as an administrator in the country for over five decades. He knows how the system functions and has also been involved in movements to bring more transparency in governance. Very recently, he worked on a report published by Vote for Democracy, which speaks about some shocking details regarding the 2024 general elections. Let's understand what the report says and its implications from Mr. Devasahayam. Thanks for joining me, Mr. Devasahayam, on this episode of Unbreak the News.

M.G. Devasahayam: Thank you very much.

Prema Sridevi: Mr. Devasahayam, before talking about the report, I want to learn why this is important. Because people might think the dust has settled on the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. A new government is in place now, and the budget has also been announced. Why should we talk about the general elections that went by? What do you have to say to this?

M.G. Devasahayam: The government is only a creation of the people. Nothing has been done and dusted. Democracy continues; we are talking about democracy here. Governments come and go. Politicians come and go. We are talking about democracy, which should be permanent. We are talking about democracy, which is under grave threat because of people's greed and their capacity to manoeuvre and manipulate. That is why we are taking up this issue in a big way, and we have been doing it for quite some time now. It is nothing new. Only now things have come to a flashpoint. Actually, it has been building up ever since the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was introduced, which completely killed the concept of democracy itself.

Earlier, we had paper ballots. In 2014, EVMs were introduced throughout the country in the parliamentary elections. That was the first election where the entire country used EVMs. The problems actually started in 2009. The present ruling party, which did not win the 2009 election, took up the issue of EVMs in a very big way, very systematically and scientifically, with involvement from prominent figures like Subramanian Swamy and L.K. Advani. They approached the Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court, and the Election Commission of India. The issue stated was that in the machines, we did not know what was happening. The voter does not know what is happening.

Voting is not an ordinary ritual; it is the transfer of sovereignty. In a country like India, the voter is sovereign. The voter should know whether their vote was cast as intended, recorded as cast, and counted as recorded. I

login-icon

The Probe: Investigative Journalism & In-Depth News Analysis

Dive into the world of The Probe, where investigative journalism meets in-depth news analysis. Explore exclusive stories, uncover hidden truths, and gain unparalleled insights into issues of public interest.