Thursday, March 28, 2024

EVMs stolen in Varanasi two days before counting, says Akhilesh Yadav, shares video

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that Electronic Voting machines were being taken away from a counting centre in Varanasi just two days before counting of votes.

“In Varanasi, we intercepted one truck and two trucks fled. If there was no suspicious activity, how did two trucks with EVMs escape? You cannot move any EVMs from anywhere without the consent of candidates,” he said.

Yadav’s allegation comes after videos of some EVMs in the truck are being circulated on social media.

“We were getting information that a principal Secretary to the Chief Minister was calling District Magistrates, saying ‘counting should be slow wherever the BJP is losing. Now that the EVMs have been caught, the officials will make multiple excuses…,” he said.

Yadav is the biggest challenger to the BJP in the recently held assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the District Magistrate of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma said the EVMs in videos were not the ones used for voting and are just being used for “hands-on training.”

Sharma further said the EVMs used in the elections “are all sealed in the strong room in the possession of CRPF and there is CCTV surveillance which is being watched by people of all political parties.”

In the last Assembly polls, the saffron party had won 47 seats with a margin of less than 5,000 votes, the former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav said.

“The exit polls are adding to the perception that the BJP is winning, any theft that may be happening is sidestepped,” Yadav told reporters.

“The news of EVM being caught in Varanasi is giving a message to every assembly of UP to be alert. All candidates and supporters of SP-alliance should be ready with their cameras to thwart the attempt to rigging the counting of votes. Youth become soldiers in counting of votes to protect democracy and future!” read a English translation of Yadav’s tweet in Hindi.

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