In response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), BJP leader and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that Musk is factually incorrect to say that “anything can be hacked.”
Chandrasekhar told ANI, “While I respect Elon Musk and what he has achieved. I think he is factually incorrect in saying that anything can be hacked. A calculator or a toaster cannot be hacked. Therefore, there is a limit in terms of where this paradigm of hacking can extend.”
Also Read: Rahul Gandhi backs Elon Musk’s concern on voting machine, says EVMs in India are a ’black box’
BJP leader further added that Elon Musk has not understood what the Indian EVM is. “Indian EVMs do not lend itself to being hacked because it is precisely very limited intelligence device…He is factually wrong…To claim that there cannot be a secure digital product in the world is to then say that every Tesla car can be hacked,” he noted.
Earlier, Chandrasekhar has said that they can be architected and built right as India has done. He further called out Musk in a post on X, saying that India “would be happy to run a tutorial” for the same.
In India’s recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, several opposition leaders had alleged that EVMs could have been hacked.
Meanwhile, NCP-SCP leader Rohit Pawar said, “Elon Musk is a big name in AI & robotics…If such a person makes a comment on EVM which creates confusion about EVM, it is a big thing. The comment or statement should not be taken lightly. The EC & the government should investigate it and the investigation should be transparent…When confusion increases, everyone’s trust in democracy reduces.”
Also Read: Elon Musk to Rahul Gandhi. Who said what on EVM ‘unlocking’ political row? 10 Points
Meanwhile, the allegations of ‘unlocking’ the EVM in the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat during the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections have sparked a political row.
Mangesh Pandilkar, brother-in-law of Ravindra Waikar, who won by a margin of just 48 votes, used a mobile phone to “unlock” an EVM during vote counting.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said serious concerns about transparency in the country’s electoral process are being raised even as the Election Commission rejected the tampering claim.
Also Read: ‘International contract killers’: BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Elon Musk’s EVM hack claims
Whereas, the BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said that EVM has gone through many ‘agnipariksha’ and has been successful in it.
BJP leader Naqvi said, “We shouldn’t make EVM either a god or demon. EVM has gone through many ‘agnipariksha’ and has been successful in it. Earlier people used to attack it nationally and now some ‘international contract killers’ have stood up against it.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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Published: 17 Jun 2024, 01:45 PM IST
