Keys Missing, Strong Rooms Force Opened In Davangere
The counting of votes was to begin at around 7.30 am but it started at around 8 am after force opening the strong room doors in presence of Deputy Commissioner.
Bengaluru : Counting of votes for Davangere South Assembly by-poll was delayed by about half-an-hour on Monday after election officials did not find the keys to 3 open strong rooms in which electronic voting machines were kept. The EVMs were stored at DRR College in Davangere city.
The voting for Davangere South Seat by-election was held on April 9 in which Congress nominee Samarth Mallikarjun and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Srinivas Daskariyappa engaged in a straight fight.
All set for counting of votes at the venue, polling officials to start the counting of votes as per scheduled time of 7.30 am but there were no signs of keys of the 3 strong rooms. With time running out and no other option left, officials took to opening the doors of the strong room using a chisel and a hammer with prior permission from officials concerned.
The counting of votes was to begin at around 7.30 am but it started at around 8 am after force opening the strong room doors in presence of Deputy Commissioner Gangadhar Swamy, Election Observer Ramankanth and Returning Officer Santosh Kumar.
Video clips circulated on social media showed personnel were at work with a chisel and hammer to open the string room door while police and election officials waited for the doors to open to take-up counting of votes. Eventually, after striking at the edges of the lock to loosen it, doors of the strong room were opened.
Officials gained entry to the strong room to collect EVMs for counting to begin. Once the doors were forced open, polling officials found seals inserted on the locks intact and the moments of anxiousness gone, counting of votes started.
The Davangere by-poll was held owing to the demise of Congress MLA Shamanur Shivashankaraappa in December previous year. He died at the age of 95 and the Congress party fielded his grandson Samarth Mallikarjun in the by-poll.
However, the missing keys of strong rooms led to people questioning Election Commission of India (ECI) "Why can't even secure strongroom keys?" Another questioned "How can people trust the system?"
