According to ANI, Election Commission sources said that the official car in which polling officers were carrying the EVMs to strong room broke down mid-way.
Guwahati| Chaos ensued in Assam’s Barak Valley region after polling ended for the second phase of the assembly election on Thursday as Electronic Voting Machines were found inside a BJP leaders’ car. Violence erupted in the Patharkandi assembly seat in Karimganj district where EVMs were found in a car belonging to BJP leader Krishnendu Paul. This led to violence in the region. The controversy gained momentum after a tweet by Guwahati-based journalist Atanu Bhuyan with a video of the incident.
BJP MLA Krishnendu Paul has not commented on this whole matter yet. There has also been no comment from the local administration. Some media reports claimed that the car shown in the video belonged to Paul’s brother. The polling team took a lift in it when the official car malfunctioned.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has tweeted and demanded the Election Commission to take action. Priyanka Gandhi said that the BJP often uses its media machinery to try to declare only those who question such videos a loser. Priyanka Gandhi said that the truth is that such cases are seen often, but no action is taken against them.
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Every time there is an election videos of private vehicles caught transporting EVM’s show up. Unsurprisingly they have the following things in common:
1. The vehicles usually belong to BJP candidates or their associates. ….
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 2, 2021
As the controversy erupted over the issue, news agency ANI quoted Election Commission sources as saying that the official car in which polling officers were carrying the EVMs to strong room broke down mid-way. After this, Polling officers were asked to arrange for another car, however, they took a lift in a vehicle passing by which belonged to the BJP leader.
Replying to the clarification, Priyanka Gandhi questioned the fairness of the EC. She tweeted, “What is the script? The car of the Election Commission was damaged, then a vehicle appeared there. The vehicle turned out to be of a BJP candidate. The innocent Election Commission officials continued to ride in it. Dear EC, what is the matter? Can you give the country some clarification on this? Or should we all speak together about the fairness of the EC?”
ECI Orders Repolling
The Election Commission (EC) has ordered a repoll for a polling station in the Ratabari Assembly seat of Assam after reports emerged late last night of an EVM being transported in a private vehicle belonging to a BJP candidate.
Acknowledging that there was a “violation of transport protocol,” the Commission, in a press statement released Friday morning, said that it has issued a show-cause notice to the Presiding Officer and also suspended him along with three other officers for the lapse.
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