Overview
- The Karnataka Assembly, which passed the bill Monday, ordered ballot-box voting for gram, taluk and zilla panchayat polls.
- The opposition protested by walking out, with Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok tearing a copy of the bill and calling it retrograde.
- Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge said EVMs act like a black box and cited late-evening turnout spikes and gaps between votes polled and counted that the Election Commission has not explained.
- Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad said requests for machine-readable voter rolls and CCTV footage went unanswered and accused the Election Commission of partisan bias.
- Supporters noted other states use paper ballots for local polls, while BJP leaders called the move anti-technology and warned of misuse of government machinery.