Varanasi:
A day after Akhilesh Yadav’s sensational charge that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were moved illegally in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi just 48 hours before the counting of votes in state elections, his party tweeted the on-camera statement of an official conceding there were “lapses”.
Speaking to reporters last evening, Varanasi’s Commissioner Deepak Agarwal appeared to accept that there was a lapse in protocol in the movement of EVMs. However, he insisted that the vote machines in question were only for training purposes.
“If you talk about the protocol for the movement of EVMs, there was a lapse in the protocol, I accept that. But I can guarantee you, it is impossible to take away machines used in voting,” Mr Agarwal said, explaining that there were CCTV cameras, security guards and political party representatives at counting centres.
“Political party workers can even sit outside the centres to keep an eye,” added the Commissioner.
The Samajwadi Party shared the comment on Twitter and said it was an admission that protocol was not followed.
“There is information of violations in EVMs from various districts. On whose order is this happening? Are officials under pressure from the Chief Minister’s (Yogi Adityanath) Office? The Election Commission must clarify,” the Samajwadi Party wrote, tagging the poll body.
