There was a tussle between the SP and the BJP on EVMs on Tuesday. SP President Akhilesh Yadav alleged that at the behest of the BJP, the officers were conspiring to rigged the counting of votes. EVMs are being carried from here to there without security. On the other hand, SP workers created a ruckus alleging EVM shuffle in Varanasi and blank ballot papers in a garbage truck in Bareilly. Retaliated, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said – On the day of the result, Akhilesh will say, EVM is very unfaithful. Meanwhile, the Chief Election Commissioner of UP dismissed all the apprehensions and claimed that all EVMs are completely safe.
Chief Electoral Officer said – EVM is completely safe
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla clarified in the matter of EVMs being carried in a truck in Varanasi that they were taken for training. Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla has said that the EVMs used in the polling in all the assembly seats of Varanasi district are sealed in the strong room and are safe under a three-tier security cordon of central paramilitary forces.
Report sought from DM
In the matter of carrying EVMs in the truck, he said that immediately a report was called from the District Officer of Varanasi in this regard. As per the report sent by him, it was found during the investigation that the EVMs carried in the above vehicle were marked for training. Rumors were spread about these EVMs being taken for training by some political people by stopping the vehicle and calling it electronic voting machines used in elections.
The report will be sent to the Central Election Commission
In Bareilly, a report has been sought from the District Magistrate on the receipt of election material in the garbage vehicle of the Municipality. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Bramhadev Ram Tiwari said that as soon as the report of the District Magistrate comes, the entire matter will be sent to the Central Election Commission. Earlier, the Samajwadi Party demanded the Election Commission to take action by taking cognizance of the video of plain ballot paper outside the strongroom in Bareilly.