Lucknow/New Delhi: Protests broke out in some parts of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after videos of alleged movement and tampering of EVMs went viral on social media, a charge dismissed by the Election Commission as “frivolous” and “unfounded”.
As the videos went viral, workers of various parties held protests in Ghazipur, Chandauli and Dumariyaganj alleging that EVMs were being “moved around” outside strongrooms.
A video clip of EVMs being off-loaded and put in a room inside the counting centre complex in Chandauli was doing the rounds on social media. BJP’s state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking re-election from the seat.
Another video is from Ghazipur where SP-BSP alliance candidate Afzal Ansari is seen staging protest alleging that the administration was trying to change EVMs.
In the video, Mr Ansari and his supporters were seen having a heated exchange with a police officer. The officer is urging them to clear the area, but the leader and his supporters refuse to budge, claiming there was an attempt to take out a vehicle loaded with EVMs.
Mr Ansari is the brother of don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is serving sentence in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda jail in connection with various criminal cases and is pitted against Union minister Manoj Sinha of the BJP.
Ansari also demanded that at least two BSP workers must be issued passes to sit near the premises where EVMs were kept in strong rooms at five different places.
Chief Electoral Officer of the state Venkateshwarlu allayed fears of political parties.
Referring to the Ghazipur incident, he said the candidate wanted more number of people to keep a watch on EVMs on the basis of his apprehensions and the DM there has satisfied him and those staging protest have returned.
On Chandauli, he said the issue pertains to unused EVMs which had been brought back and after talks they were kept separately from the used ones kept in the strong room.
There are CCTV cameras installed in strong rooms. Candidates are allowed to keep a watch on strong rooms through their representatives. All apprehensions are unfounded, he said.
