EVMs deliver BJP symbol, EC orders probe
Following directive by EC in MP, 19 officers have been transferred.
Bhopal: An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioned during an official media demonstration ahead of an Assembly by-election in Madhya Pradesh giving fresh ammo to the non-NDA parties to press the demand for ballot paper voting.
A purported video catching poll officials including chief election officer of MP Saleena Singh off guard following malfunctioning of the EVM during a demonstration before local media in district headquarters town of Bhind on Saturday, has gone viral in social media prompting Congress and Aam Admi Party to move the Election Commission to revive their demand to do away with EVMs in elections.
In a late evening development, 19 officials in the district including the local collector T. Illeya Raja and superintendent of police (SP) Anil Singh were transferred following a directive by EC.
Opposition Congress has earlier demand their removal from their posts to ensure free and fair by-elections to the Ater Assembly seat in the district, slated for April nine.
According to spokesman of Congress here K.K. Mishra, the paper trail attached to the EVM generated a slip, known as voter verifiable paper audit trail, bearing BJP’s lotus symbol when the CEO had pressed the button for Samajwadi Party candidate during the demo.
However, Ms Singh, an IAS officer of 1986 batch, debunked charges of malfunctioning of the EVM, saying that the EVM was not fully calibrated.
“Such things do not happen in fully calibrated machines. They (journalists) misrepresented the facts without trying to understand the whole issue,” she said.
In the purported video, she was also heard laughing and saying journalists that they would face police detention if they covered the incident in the media.