Hours after a video of Congress leader Arif Naseem Khan catching hold of a car full of EVMs in Chandivali got circulated online, North Mumbai's collector Milind Borikar stated on Wednesday, 23 October, that the EVMs were “unused and reserved.”
Khan, an MLA from Chandivali, claimed to have caught private vehicles ferrying EVMs in his constituency. The video showed Khan along with other party workers crowding around the vehicle thereby stopping it from moving forward. Few policemen are also present at the spot.
Reacting to the incident, Borikar told The Quint that the EVMs are “unused and reserved” and the car carrying the EVMs has been booked by the Election Commission (EC) for the zonal officer.
The car was on its way to the collector's office, he stated.
He further said that the incident blew out of proportion when Khan found Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ in the car.
However, Khan has been informed about the reality of the EVMs, the collector stated.
He stated that at the time of Assembly elections, EC arranges many such cars and taxis to help in case any problem arises.
EC to Look Into Complaints; Cong Demands Jammers in EVM Rooms
Amidst EVM-tampering allegations, the State Election Commission (SEC) denied such charges and assured to put in place mechanisms to assess all such complaints, including those made by the opposition parties, senior officials said.
The Congress on Tuesday demanded installation of mobile phone jammers in the premises of strong rooms housing electronic voting machines and counting centres as “people feel” EVMs can be tampered with.
The opposition party told the EC that its demand be considered in the interest of democracy and the integrity of the poll process.
The Congress' demand comes two days after its ally, the NCP, called for suspension of Internet services within three km radius of every polling booth, strong rooms, from the day of voting till the votes are counted.
EVM-Tampering Claims in Satara
A day previously in Satara, villagers claimed that the votes cast in favour of the NCP nominee, Srinavas Patil, were going into the “account” of BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosale.
While NVP legislator Shashikant Shinde said he was witness to such an incident happeing in Navlewadi vilage, Kirit Nalawade, the returning officer for the Koregaon Assembly segment refuted the claims.
On Wednesday, a case was registered against an NCP polling agent for spreading the “false information” in the case.
EVMs used in the polling in Maharashtra on 21 October have been kept at strong rooms at different places in the state. They will be opened on 24 October for counting.
(With inputs from PTI)
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