EVM shifting to be tracked; tight vigil at storage centres: Varanasi DM

The movement of vehicles carrying EVMs will be done under tight vigil, said district magistrate S Rajalingam while holding a meeting with the representatives of the political parties in fray for the Lok Sabha polls here on Monday.

All the vehicles will be equipped with GPS and every movement will take place under police protection, said the DM.

Rajalingam said that the purpose of the meeting was to make it clear that there should not be any kind of confusion at any level regarding the shifting of EVMs.

The district magistrate said that all the EVMs will be kept under adequate security in the strong room located at Paharia Mandi. Apart from this, the EVMs used for training of polling personnel and the EVMs left after FLC (first level checking) will be kept in the warehouse made in Tehsil Sadar.

DM said that there will be training of polling personnel for four days from April 29 and in view of that a decision has been taken to create a temporary strong room in Uday Pratap College itself and keep the machines there for four days.

The DM added that the machines without FLC and those left during randomization and other unused EVMs will be kept in the warehouse located in Tehsil Sadar.

Notification for the sixth phase has been issued for Machhali Shahar Parliamentary constituency on Monday. Pindara Assembly constituency of Varanasi district is part of the Machhali Shahar parliamentary constituency in which voting will take place on May 25. For the voting, EVM machines will be transported there on May 24. Information will be given to the political parties and their representatives to avoid any confusion.

The DM asked the representatives present to download the Voter Helpline and Suvidha App so that that everyone remains informed about the elections.

During the meeting, ADM FR Vandita Srivastava, ADM Administration Vipin Kumar, representatives of various political parties and other concerned officers/employees were present.