Congress team meets EC, claims poll violations in MP, Chhattisgarh

NEW DELHI: Days after Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh voted to elect their new assemblies, a Congress delegation on Saturday met the three-member Election Commission alleging a conspiracy to distort election results in the two states, expressing “grave concern” over the safekeeping of EVMS.

The Congress also alleged an organised attempt by the BJP to try and subvert the mandate of the people and urged the poll panel to take congnisance of these extremely alarming incidents.

In two separate memoranda submitted to the poll panel, a party delegation led by Abhishek Singhvi and Manish Tewari demanded that necessary steps be taken for preventing manipulation of results and to ensure that the counting of votes and other related processes are free from interference in the two states.

The party alleged there was a larger conspiracy related to EVMS in Madhya Pradesh to distort the results of the elections.

It alleged that 48 hours after the close of polling in the state, a school bus carrying EVM machines without the registration plate reached the Sagar District Collector’s office “ostensibly” to deposit those machines.

“This incident is a clear case of certain parties and individuals engaging in corrupt practices to manipulate the outcome of the

Congress alleged an organised attempt by the BJP to try and subvert the mandate of the people and urged the poll panel to take congnisance of these extremely alarming incidents

recently concluded election,” the party said, demanding an inquiry and segregation of those machines from the rest.

“Furthermore, following the failure and malfunctioning of the EVMS during the elections, there is a clear case to be made of a larger conspiracy to distort the results,” the memorandum submitted to the poll panel said.

The party also expressed concern over the security of election strongrooms saying the presence of unauthorised individuals in and around the strongrooms leaves the machines and the result vulnerable to manipulation.

It also called for segregation of used and unused EVMS, recommending that unused ones should be kept off campus if possible, or at least in separate sealed rooms.