Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNews ReportsAhead of counting, opposition parties raise EVM bogey as exit polls suggest BJP clean...

Ahead of counting, opposition parties raise EVM bogey as exit polls suggest BJP clean sweeping UP assembly polls

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and other opposition leaders have raised allegations of EVM tampering ahead of counting for assembly polls

The counting for Assembly elections in five states that are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand, is scheduled for March 10. The exit polls have shown Bharatiya Janata Party winning the UP elections comfortably, which has triggered the opposition parties. As always, the leaders of the opposition parties have raised the EVM bogey to hide their inability to win elections.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, called the reports of EVM mishandling serious. He said, “The reports of EVM mishandling are very serious. If EVMs are being found in Garbage trucks, what does that say about the state of our electoral democracy? Does the EC have any answers? Has it become an extended arm of the BJP govt?”

He was referring to the incident where Samajwadi Party workers have alleged EVMs were being shifted from a strong room in Varanasi. In reality, those EVMs were not used in polls and were marked for training purposes. Before counting, Election Commission trains the counting officials how to check and record the votes on EVM machines. The machines that were “captured” by the SP workers had a clear mention on them that they were for training purposes, and it was clarified by the District Magistrate of Varanasi as well.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “Varanasi DM is transporting EVMs without giving any information to local candidates. EC should look into it. We need to be alert if EVMs are being transported this way. This is theft. We need to save our votes. We may go to court against it but before that, I want to appeal to people to save the democracy.”

SP Maurya, SP, alleged EVMs were found outside strong rooms. He said, “EVM machines were found outside the strong room in Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Bareilly & Unnao. This raises questions on respective dist. administrations. If any EVM needs to be transported, it’s done in presence of all stakeholders. I urge EC to take action.”

RJD Uttar Pradesh claimed if people are scared of foul play in EVMs, there must be something substantial as such reports were not coming from Punjab.

Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “This EVM being moved from an election sensitive state for training in another state is a bit far fetched and hard to believe! Why would ECI at a time when state results are awaited want to move machines from that state only? Winning or losing aside, it is a matter of concern!”

Mukul Wasnik, General Secretary, Congress, shared a video of SP workers hijacking a small truck that was transferring EVMs marked for training purposes and said, “It’s a free for all in Modi Regime it seems. EVM machines being flaunted like trophies after election in Uttar Pradesh.”

The training for poll counting

According to information available on ECI’s website, the EVMs and VVPATs used for training purposes are added to the poll day reserve. That means these machines cannot be used unless the polling has been done at all centres. Once the polling is done, ECI provides training to the officials so that they are aware of the process of counting votes on EVM machines. When required, a set of rules are followed to take out the EVMs and VVPATs marked for training purposes from the strong room. ECI clearly mentions that these machines must be marked with a specific sticker that says the machines are for training purposes only.

Ayodhra Ram Mandir special coverage by OpIndia

  Support Us  

Whether NDTV or 'The Wire', they never have to worry about funds. In name of saving democracy, they get money from various sources. We need your support to fight them. Please contribute whatever you can afford

OpIndia Staff
OpIndia Staffhttps://www.opindia.com
Staff reporter at OpIndia

Related Articles

Trending now

Recently Popular

- Advertisement -

Connect with us

255,564FansLike
665,518FollowersFollow
41,500SubscribersSubscribe