NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s contention that India should revert to the ballot paper because the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were not tamper-proof was dismissed by the ruling Congress as a “stretch of imagination”, but Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan too reiterated Sunday his stand against EVMs.

Advani told The Sunday Express that ballot papers should be reintroduced in the state assembly elections scheduled later this year unless the Election Commission is able to ensure foolproof functioning of EVMs.

“We should revert to ballot papers unless the Election Commission is able to ensure that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are foolproof and every possibility of their malfunctioning is taken care of,” Advani was quoted as saying.

However, Congress party spokesperson Manish Tiwari described Advani’s contenion as a “stretch of imagination”.

“The concerns (about malfunctioning of EVMs) have been expressed over a period of time, but to go that far as to suggest that you should scrap rlectronic voting machines and revert to voting by ballot - I think is a stretch of imagination,” Tiwari told a news channel.

“Mr. Quraishi, the election commissioner, has said that they have appointed an expert committee which went into the possibility of whether EVMs could be rigged, and the committee has come to a conclusion in the negative,” Tiwari added.

He said he preferred the poll panel’s stand on the issue, adding that “there needs to be a wider discussion and probe into the efficacy of EVMs”.

Advani questioned the credibility of EVMs nearly 20 days after Paswan raised similar question for the first time last month, saying “EVMs have become a political tool to rig the election.”

With Advani voicing his reservations, Paswan again raised the pitch Sunday.

“If the electronic device to count the votes of 543 members in the Lok Sabha cannot be trusted, how can you trust the electronic voting machines for a voting process involving millions of electorate all over the country?” Paswan asked while talking to IANS.

The LJP passed a resolution questioning the credibility of EVMs at its national executive meet June 14, convened to analyse its poll debacle in the latest 2009 general elections. The party, which had won four Lok Sabha seats in 2004 general elections, failed to win even a single seat this time.

Paswan, a former union minister who in the past always won the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar with record margins, himself lost the poll to the 15th Lok Sabha.

He said his party had encountered complaints against EVMs, ranging from their malfunctioning to their manipulation by the state government and presiding officers. In some cases, officials cast the votes while demonstrating the use of these machines to gullible villagers, he alleged.

Meanwhile, Sidharth Nath Singh, BJP spokesperson, has clarified his party’s stand on the matter.

“Mr. Advani has not referred to the 2009 elections being rigged. What he has said (about reverting to ballot papers) is because there have been a large number of complaints on the issue of malfunctioning of EVMs,” Singh said.

The question is posed to the Election Commission to ensure that there are safeguards on EVMS, which if not possible - then the ballot paper is a right way and for that the government should go into a larger debate.”