From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Veteran Congressman and leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia has requested the Election Commission of India to immediately to intervene and instruct the state chief election officer and district election officer not to shift any EVM machine from present location till the final counting of results is done in order to avoid any confusion in the greater interest of the people of Assam.
In a letter shot off to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Tuesday, Saikia brought to the notice of the poll panel the reported transportation of ‘unused’ EVM machines from one district to another.
“On the evening of April 28, 2019, it was reported that EVM machines were transported to a private godown at Amingaon, opposite to the office of the deputy commissioner, Kamrup (rural), which is adjacent to the strong room, thereby, creating doubts among the people,” the letter to the CEC by Saikia read.
The three-phase Lok Sabha elections in Assam concluded on April 23, 2019, leaving a month’s time for counting day on May 23.
“As per practice, the unused EVMs are transferred only after the same are verified by representatives of all political parties as done when the same are received and made ready for use before polls. But it is reported that the contesting candidates have not undertaken such exercises. Besides, the CEOs have to personally monitor the transfer of “unused” EVMs and ensure the compliance of instruction by the field level officers in letter and spirit and also ensure that each unused EVM is reported to the Commission,” the Opposition leader stated.
It may be mentioned that the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee had intimated the state CEO and ECI in this regard through an e-mail immediately after being intimated about the incident.
Memo submitted to CEO
Meanwhile, alarmed over the shoddy manner and unannounced shifting of unused EVMs from Tezpur to Amingaon in the later hours of Sunday, a delegation of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee met state CEO, Mukesh Sahu at his office here on Tuesday afternoon and submitted a memorandum for ensuring larger transparency in the matter of storage of unused EVMs in different parts of the State.
The delegation requested that all concerned political parties/contesting candidates be provided with the list of the buffer stations notified for Assam for storage of supplementary EVMs along with the serial number and total number of such machines used for training, spare back up etc.
The APCC members urged the CEO to direct all returning officers to allow inspection of the strong room and stores of unused EVMs by the concerned political parties/contesting candidates.
The Congress leaders also called for steps to immediately send back from the state all such unused EVMs or allow the concerned political parties/contesting candidates to put their locks on the stores where such unused EVMs are being kept.
The CEO assured the delegation that he would immediately move the Election Commission for obtaining approval for the measures and also issue fresh circulars to this effect to all concerned for strict compliance.