Overview

• Law Minister H. K. Patil cited erosion of public confidence in EVMs and complaints about flawed voter rolls in Bengaluru as the rationale.
• The government plans to place legal amendments within about 15 days to enable paper ballots and to let the SEC prepare, revise or redo local electoral rolls.
• State Election Commissioner G. S. Sangreshi said the commission can run local polls using ballots once laws are updated and does not need ECI approval.
• BJP leaders denounced the proposal as regressive and politically driven, with B. Y. Vijayendra urging Congress legislators and MPs to resign and recontest on paper.
• The move follows Rahul Gandhi’s detailed ‘vote chori’ claims in Mahadevapura and refuels a national argument even as courts and the ECI continue to back EVM reliability.