EVMs reach 48 hours late after poll

DAINIK NATION BUREAU

The Congress leaders have raised suspicion over the late arrival of EVMs and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines by more than 48 hours at the district headquarters of Sagar and Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, as well as an hour-long power outage in the capital’s old jail area.

While state Home Minister Bhupendra Singh is contesting the Khurai seat, minister Balkrishna Patidar is fighting from Khargone. In all, 118 EVMs from Khurai in Sagar district and 50 in Khargone arrived 48 hours after the Wednesday polling for all 230 Assembly constituencies.

“We will probe the matter,” Khargone district deputy election officer MN Klen said. State Chief Electoral Officer VL Kantha Rao claimed these EVMs were “unused or kept in reserve”. To this, Congress MP Vivek Tankha remarked: “These spare EVMs were to be deposited two hours after the polls and not two days.”

Voting machines from about 2,250 polling booths in Bhopal district have been kept in the old jail located in Arera Hills. “The CCTV camera and LED panel were down for more than an hour and no one knows what transpired or who went inside the strongroom during that period,” pointed out Congress candidate from Narela Dr Mahendra Singh Chouhan.

A delegation of congress party lodged a complaint. “I urge all candidates and workers to keep a close watch on the strongrooms where the EVMs are kept till December 11, the day counting will take place,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath tweeted.

Meanwhile a Congress delegation also met the EC and raised concern over the security of EVMs inside strongrooms and their handling during the counting process in MP and Chhattisgarh and the alleged deletion of voters in UP.

Congress leader PL Punia claimed “suspicious people” with laptops and cellphones were seen near the strongroom where EVMs were kept after voting on the “pretext of repairing CCTVs”.

with input of tribune and PTI