UP polls: Electoral Officer denies SP's 'BJP tampering EVM' claim, issues clarification

Following the completion of polls in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday said that the electronic voting machine (EVM) used in the elections were being tampered with. The SP supremo alleged that the machines were being transported without any information to the local candidates. However, the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) dismissed the accusations and said that the EVMs in question were being transported for the training of polling officers and not to be used in UP elections.

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of “stealing” votes and claimed that the EVMs used in Varanasi polls were being transported by road and tampered with. Only hours after the allegation, UP State Election Commission denied all claims and said the EVMs in question were being transported for “training purposes”. Replying to SP’s allegations, the CEO, in a press release, said that some parties were spreading rumours about the transportation of EVMs.

“Some political parties have brought to our attention that a few EVMs were being transported in a vehicle in Varanasi district. On investigation, it was found that these EVMs were for training purposes. These EVMs were being taken to training locations at a college in the state on March 9, 2022, and were kept at a food grains warehouse,” the CEO’s statement read. “During the transportation of these EVMs, some members of a political party stopped the vehicle and started spreading rumours that vehicle contains EVMs meant for counting of votes,” the election officer added.

Meanwhile, Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma also held a meeting with representatives of several political parties following the allegations. During the meeting, the DM reiterated the 20 EVMs were not used in polls and were only kept for training purposes.

BJP mocks SP's EVM tampering claim

Mocking Samajwadi Party's claim of 'BJP trying to steal votes' in UP, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said that they could not even wait for March 10, and started making accusations on March 8 itself. Speaking to the media, the BJP leader claimed that the SP supremo during the course of the seven-phased elections had got a sense that the people of UP were 'not serious' about the party. “The people will show him the wait and then they will claim that the EVM is Bewafa (disloyal). But, they did not even wait for March 10, and claimed on March 8 itself that the EVM is Bewafa,” Thakur said.  

(With ANI inputs)

Image: PTI/ANI