Can India’s election be rigged? Ahead of vote, old debate gets new life

A man walks past a large model of a woman's finger pressing a button of an electronic voting machine displayed outside the office of Election Commission of India in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. From April 19 to June 1, more than 10 percent of humanity will vote in the world's biggest election ever [Altaf Qadri/AP Photo]

New Delhi, India – As he launched the main Indian opposition alliance’s election campaign in the middle of March, Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at two targets: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he described as the “king”, and the electronic voting machines (EVMs) that the country uses to cast ballots.

“The soul of the king is in the EVM,” Gandhi said in Mumbai.