Maharashtra bypolls: Officials ferrying EVMs in private car suspended
Palghar, May 29: Two election officers, who were detected transporting VVPAT-EVMs in a private car after polling in the Palghar Lok Sabha bye-elections on Monday night, were suspended on Tuesday, officials said.
Zonal Polling officers of Booth No. 17 in Chinchani, Deepak Khot and Manohar Khande, were placed under suspension after a preliminary probe report from the Zone on the shocking lapse and flouting of protocol.
A detailed investigation report of the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) and the local police is awaited before further action in the matter.
Confirming the incident earlier on Tuesday, Palghar Collector Prashant Narnaware told IANS that it was "a serious lapse" since, after the voting in any elections, "the EVM-VVPATs are considered sacrosanct" and cannot be moved around anywhere in such an unauthorised manner.
"As per the ECI guidelines, after voting is completed, a special bus is sent to pick up all the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail-Electronic Voting Machines (VVPAT-EVMs) from all the polling centres.
"Each bus has a specific route by which it travels, picks up the machines and takes them to the ARO office. In this case, the laid down procedures were not followed by the officers concerned," he said.
According to available information, the concerned officials, apparently tired of waiting for the bus, called for Khot's own private car from home.
It is not clear whether they were accompanied by any security personnel on this venture, as is the norm to ensure safety of the EVM-VVPATs, said officials.
Khot and Khande loaded a couple of EVM-VVPATs which were under their charge after the voting, placed them on the rear seat and drove off to the ARO's office early on Tuesday to deposit them in the strongroom before the counting process is undertaken on May 31.
Official sources said that the duo was caught by some alert citizens carrying the EVM-VVPATs in the private car (MH-03-BS-0980) and stopped it near Kirat village.
On questioning, they gave vague replies following which the locals summoned the Manor police, who arrived and took charge of the matter, besides informing the collectorate and Election Commission officials.
The high-stakes bye-elections to the Palghar Lok Sabha, along with Bhandara-Gondiya, were held on Monday, amidst widespread incidents of malfunctioning EVM-VVPATs and allegations of foul play by all opposition parties and ruling ally Shiv Sena.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
