Ahead of Results, EC Suspends Varanasi Officer Over SP's EVM Tampering Charge

Akhilesh Yadav had alleged that the Varanasi district magistrate was transporting EVMs without informing candidates.

A day after Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav alleged EVM tampering in Varanasi, the Election Commission has asked Uttar Pradesh chief election office to take action against Varanasi Additional District Magistrate NK Singh. (Representative photo)

(Photo: PTI)

A day after Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav alleged Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering in Varanasi, the Election Commission (EC) has suspended Varanasi Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Nalini Kant Singh.

Singh, who had been the EVM in-charge, has been removed from the post of nodal officer, and the EC has ordered his dismissal from all his election work.

"On 08.03.2022, without sharing the movement plan of EVM to the District Election Officer, Deputy District Election Officer and political parties, 20 EVMs were sent from EVM warehouse to Uday Pratap College. All these machines were to be sent on the morning of 09.03.2022 after sharing the movement plan with political parties. Due to this negligence, there was a lot of confusion among the candidates of Varanasi, in controlling which the image of the district has been seriously tarnished," a notice from the district magistrate said.

The Election Commission also said that certain rumours had been spread about EVMS, and action will be taken against those who engaged in the rumour mongering, ANI reported.

Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday had alleged that the Varanasi ADM was transporting EVMs without informing the local candidates, urging the EC to look into it.

What Had Akhilesh Yadav Said?

"The news of EVM being caught in Varanasi is giving a message to every assembly of UP to be alert. All the candidates and supporters of SP-alliance should be ready with their cameras to thwart the attempt of rigging in the counting of votes. To protect youth democracy and future, become soldiers in counting of votes," the SP chief had said.

This comes after a video surfaced which appeared to show officials carrying EVMs as a crowd gathers and confronts them.

"We need to be alert if EVMs are being transported this way. This is theft. We need to save our votes. We may go to court against it but before that, I want to appeal to people to save the democracy," Yadav had said.

This comes merely hours before the counting of votes begins for UP Assembly elections at 8 am on Thursday.

No Question of Tampering EVMs: CEC Sushil Chandra

Reacting to the allegations of EVM tampering in Varanasi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on Thursday, 10 March, said that there was no question of EVM tampering as the poll body has always carried out elections in a transparent manner, reported news agency ANI.

Explaining the standard operating procedure (SOP) followed to store EVMs, he said that EVMs have been in use since 2004. From 2019 we have begun using voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) at all the polling booths. EVMs are sealed in the presence of political party agents after verifying the corresponding VVPATs. Signatures of the agents are also taken before sealing the voting machines, he said, adding that the EVMs are stored in strong rooms that are under three-tier security and CCTV surveillance 24/7. In addition, political parties also keep an eye on the strong rooms. Hence there is no question of tampering the EVMs or taking them out of the strong rooms.

Further, he clarified, that the EVM in question at Varanasi was meant for training purposes. The ADM missed informing the political parties about the movement of EVMs for training purposes, that was the mistake on his part, Chandra said adding that every EVM had a number and the number of the EVM in question did not match with that of the EVM meant for the poll. The political parties were satisfied after we showed them this, he said.

Chandra further informed that certain number of EVMs are set aside for training and demo purposes. Besides, some are stored at sector magistrate so that they can come handy if a EVM becomes faulty during the voting process, he said.

In Sant Kabir Nagar, 2 Ballot Papers Recovered From Officer at Counting Site

In UP's Sant Kabir Nagar, two ballot papers have been recovered from a record keeper inside the counting site located at HRPG college, as per allegations furthered by Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Aftab Alam.

Alam urged the Election Commission to probe the matter.

The district magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar, Divya Mittal, said that the unused ballot papers had remained behind due to a mistake, and that an FIR has been registered in the matter.

"Two ballot papers to be put in the EVM machine were found in the register of Khilalabad lands records officer Nagendra Singh. An FIR has been registered against him. He has been suspended with immediate effect and a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of ADM (J) to investigate the matter," the DM said.

(With inputs from ANI.)