The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

last word: LALIT MODI
The other Modi in reckoning
By Rohit Mahajan

The idea that Lalit Modi will clean up Indian cricket is the stuff of fantasy. Yet, he raises hopes — not because he's Mr Clean, but because he's engaged in a fight with the entrenched cricket officials and, in the process, just might help uncover their dirty secrets.

Is Modi the man who will restore the credibility of Indian cricket?

The stench of corruption emanating from the house of Indian cricket is foul, strong and persistent. Under N Srinivasan, owner of Chennai Super Kings, the BCCI has lost its credibility. Politicians and businessmen of all hues have cheerily congregated in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Outside the BCCI, political and ideological differences make them adversaries; the differences melt once they enter the BCCI portals. Thus Farooq Abdullah, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi and Rajiv Shukla, all political adversaries, can happily dine at one table in the BCCI. They unite to deflect criticism of the BCCI, keep its operations and finances away from scrutiny.

Four years ago, Modi fled India and has remained a fugitive from Indian law. His passport has been revoked by the Indian government. The Enforcement Directorate issued a worldwide Blue Corner notice for him in 2010, signifying its interest in questioning him.

Lalit Modi was kicked out of the IPL in 2010 due to many improprieties; in 2013, he was banned for life by the BCCI after being found guilty on many counts of corruption and wrongdoing.

The return of Modi is dramatic and unbelievable. Last Tuesday, the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) elections were announced. Modi was elected the RCA president. The same day, the BCCI suspended the RCA. Modi went to court, and is awaiting the results of the Indian General Elections. He has friends in the BJP and a change in the Central government could bring him back to India.

Political patronage has been an essential ingredient in the rise of Modi, whose career had a decidedly unpromising beginning. By 1986, Modi already had a criminal conviction against him — a US court had convicted him of cocaine possession and abduction when he was studying there. He belongs to the redoubtable Modi business family, but his own ventures ended in failure, litigation or controversies.

Then he got into the RCA, allegedly by impersonating someone called Lalit Kumar of Nagaur. Modi admitted in 2006: "I didn't give my full name because people would have wanted to cut off my entry." His critics, of whom there is a legion, say that he used his proximity to then Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to win the RCA election in 2005. The state government passed the Rajasthan Sports Act that year, allowing him to gain complete control of the RCA.

That year Modi made a very powerful friend — Sharad Pawar. Modi helped Pawar defeat Jagmohan Dalmiya in the BCCI elections. Pawar became BCCI president, Modi was made a vice-president. Modi can be credited with filling the coffers of the BCCI due to his hard-selling of cricket to the broadcasting companies and sponsors.

IPL king

When the IPL was launched in 2008, Modi was king, but the ground was already slipping beneath his feet. Vasundhara Raje lost Rajasthan chief ministership after the elections in December 2008. Modi was said to be a factor in the defeat — he had allegedly become an alternative power centre, using his proximity to Raje to his advantage. Jaipur was buzzing with Modi stories at election time — how he'd slapped a senior police officer, how he'd summon senior IAS officials and give them orders, how he grabbed public or private land for his construction company, or how he had become a key man in the misuse of the Land Acquisition Act.

After Raje lost power, Modi lost the RCA election. The Jaipur Municipal Corporation took possession of the two havelis (mansions) at the foothills of Amer Fort, which he had acquired in alleged contravention of the Archaeological Survey of India rules.

Modi was no more the RCA president, but his power didn't wane immediately. He jetted around India, son in tow, during IPL matches. Toadies fawned over him. Ravi Shastri called him the Moses of Indian cricket.

Signs of decline showed in 2010. That year, when bidding for two more IPL franchises was to be made, as IPL Commissioner he was alleged to have manipulated rules. The bidders of the Kochi franchise alleged that he had tried to block their bid, or pay them to back out. But the Kochi franchise was backed by Central minister Shashi Tharoor. Much against his wishes, Modi had to approve the Kochi bid, but he was enraged. In a series of late-night messages on twitter.com, Modi revealed the ownership pattern of the Kochi owners — specifically, he revealed that Tharoor's wife, now late Sunanda Puskhar, was commercially involved with the Kochi franchise. That was the biggest mistake he'd made.

A few days later, immediately after the IPL final, Modi was sacked. A number of allegations were made against him by BCCI president Shashank Manohar. The Enforcement Directorate got on his case for alleged violation of foreign exchange rules. Modi ran, and has been on the run since then.

Now Raje is back as the Rajasthan Chief Minister. As if on cue, Modi is back as the RCA president. He's waiting for the UPA government to lose power and another friendly politician, Narendra Modi, to become prime minister. Then he'll return to India, in triumph — at least that's the plan.

Will it be a reformer-activist Modi who'll be back in India? It might be good for Indian cricket to have a dissident in the BCCI, because when officials fall out, official misdeeds are out too. But will or can Modi clean up Indian cricket? Sadly, his murky past holds out little hope.

EVM, making your vote count
By Shubhadeep Choudhury

Control unit (L) connected with a balloting unit (R) through a cable.

Electronic voting machines revolutionised the election process in India, when these were introduced in 1998. During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, 1.7 million EVMs have been pressed into service. The Tribune presents a low-down on the machines.

Why not paper ballot

Savings: The most important advantage of EVMs is that ballot papers can be dispensed with. Only one ballot paper is required for affixing on the balloting unit at each polling station, resulting in huge savings.

Braille strips being readied for EVMs.

Counting: Votes cast through EVMs can be counted quickly and the result can be declared within two to three hours.

Easy handling: Unlettered people find it easier to press a button than putting a stamp on a paper.

Tamper-proof: Can frustrate the efforts of booth capturers as EVMs are programmed to record only five votes per minute.

Sturdy: EVMs are operated under adverse climate conditions and can be stored for long periods in facilities that lack climate control. Attack by vermin, rats and fungus are more serious threats.

The components

The control unit, which is manned by a poll officer.

Control unit: It remains with the polling officer. Instead of a ballot paper, the polling officer presses the ballot button of the control unit. This enables a person to cast vote by pressing the blue button on the balloting unit against the candidate of his choice.

Balloting unit: It is placed inside the voting area. Both units are connected via a five-metre cable

Battery: A six-volt alkaline battery powers it, allowing it to be used in areas with no electricity.

How it works

A demonstration by election officials.

As soon as the voter presses the blue button, a tiny lamp on the left side of the symbol glows red and a long beep is heard. There is audio and visual indication that the vote has been recorded. There is a provision for 16 candidates. If the number exceeds 16, more balloting units can be linked to the first unit to cater to a maximum of 64 candidates.

At the end of the polling, the presiding officer removes a plastic cap on the control unit and presses the ‘close’ button, which prevents the EVM from accepting further votes. The ballot unit is disconnected and the control unit is placed in storage until the public count.

Counting process

EVMs being counted before distribution.

The EVM records votes in its internal memory.

On the counting day, a poll official breaks the seal on the control unit in front of others and presses the ‘result’ button.

The display on the control unit shows the number of candidates, total votes and number of votes received by each candidate.

Officials manually record the total from each machine and add them to determine the result. The EVMs are then placed in storage until the next election.

The makers
Two companies: Manufactured by Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bangalore, and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd, Hyderabad
First use: Manufactured in 1989-90, EVMs were used on an experimental basis for 16 Assembly constituencies during the 1998 general election. From 2004, these became a regular feature.
Price tag: Each EVM costs around Rs 10,500. In the US, even used voting machines cost Rs 3.6 lakh ($6,000) each.

Design a secret

The details of the design are a secret. However, a group of researchers got hold of a second-generation machine manufactured in 2003 and produced a report in 2010. After the report’s release, the Mumbai police arrested one of the researchers and interrogated him to know how they had obtained the EVM. The report is available on the Internet.

The software

Inaccessible: Design features make the election software difficult to extract from the control unit. The researchers did not have permission to render the EVM unusable and so did not attempt to extract the software. Thus, no detailed description of the software is available.

Integration: The software is integrated into the CPU by the manufacturer, Renesas, a Japanese company. Some EVM models use CPUs made by a US company.

The hardware

The inside of a control unit.

The control unit contains the main circuit board. The centrepiece is the CPU, a Renesas H8/3644-series microcontroller driven by an 8.8672 MHz crystal oscillator.

The CPU is custom manufactured with the software permanently recorded in an internal mask ROM, preventing it from being electronically reprogrammed.

On the main circuit board are the switches for the buttons, a buzzer, two EEPROM chips for non-volatile storage of vote data, display board connector and ballot unit connector.

The ballot unit board has no CPU and uses two electronically programmable logic devices (EPLDs) to interpret signals from the control unit CPU and interface with the candidate buttons and LEDs on its surface. It contains a four-position switch used to select the ballot unit’s position in a multi-unit chain.

The control unit initiates communication by sending the number of the ballot unit it wants to query. The first EPLD in each ballot unit reads this number, compares it to the position of the unit’s four-position switch, and activates the second EPLD if the two numbers match. The second EPLD on the active ballot unit scans the candidate buttons and, if one is pressed, it communicates that information to the control unit. The unit then signals the first EPLD to activate the corresponding LED, indicating a successful vote.

The data can be stored for up to 10 years.

Off the cuff

The manner in which the BJP has promoted personality cult by projecting Modi reflects its desperation and mental bankruptcy, which even questions the wisdom of the people of the country.
Anand Sharma, union Minister
Saying Modi has self-anointed himself as PM

There is a dispute going on in Mulayam's family. He is contesting from Azamgarh to please his second wife and pave the way for their son Prateek Yadav.
Mayawati, bsp supremo
Alleging infighting in Mulayam's clan

Modi talks about giving power to women. I want to tell him that the women of India are not weak. They are internally strong.
Rahul Gandhi, congress vice-president
Attacking Narendra Modi

Modi is playing the secular card. If he is truly secular he should either declare me or BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as the prime ministerial candidate.
Azam Khan, uttar pradesh minister
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi

My priority is to appoint good judges in high courts and the apex court. If we have good judges, we will have an entirely new complexion of judiciary within eight years.
RM Lodha, new cji
On transparent selection of judges

We are brothers. Who voted, who did not; who boycotted, who did not, that phase is over. No complaint should come that can create a civil war-like situation.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, hardline separatist
Appealing after violence during J&K polling