AAP seeks more security for EVMs at S delhi Counting Centre

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday asked the Election Commission to provide additional security at a counting centre in South Delhi, alleging that its “political opponents” have plans to manipulate electronic voting machines ahead of March 23, when the election results are declared.

In a letter signed by AAP’s national spokesperson and South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Raghav Chadha, he mentioned about having received inputs from unidentified sources about plans to manipulate EVMs in the counting centre at the Jija Bai Industrial Training Institute for Women in Siri Fort.

In the letter, Chadha told the commission: “I have received information from credible sources that our political opponents have planned attempts to gerrymander with EVMs either on the night of May 21, 2019 or May 22, 2019 to the hours leading up to the actual counting on May 23, 2019 (sic).”

“I have strong reasons to believe that the political adversaries will attempt to open the strong rooms and manipulate or replace the machines,” Chadha said in the letter, which HT has seen.

Chadha sought the appointment of another independent observer by the Election Commission of India.

“We request that CRPF security at Jija Bai Institute, where South Delhi’s EVMs are housed, be tightened. It is further requested that additional CRPF personnel may be deployed to keep watch over the strong rooms round the clock,” he said.

He sought strict enforcement of entry permission. “All unnecessary movement in and around premises should be strictly forbidden,” Chadha said in the letter. A senior official in the Delhi election office said the complaint was sent directly to the Election Commission of India. It is now up to the chief election commissioner (CEC) to forward the case to the office of the chief electoral officer in Delhi for further inputs. The final call on this matter will be taken by the CEC, the official said.