The CCTV cameras at the strongroom where Electronic Voting machines were stored for the Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, was switched off for 45 minutes on Monday morning, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) has alleged.
Demanding an explanation from the Election Commission, senior party leader and also candidate Supriya Sule called it ‘suspicious”, in a throwback to the multiple objections of the Opposition regarding Electronic Voting Machines
Sharing a video of the incident, the three-time MP from Baramati urged the Election Commission to take immediate stock of the situation.
“After the polling of Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, the CCTV in Godawan where the EVMs are kept was switched off for 45 minutes this morning. It is suspicious that the CCTV is switched off where a very important thing like EVM is kept. Also, this is a big laxity,” she said in an X post.
Sule further said that she didn’t receive any ‘satisfactory answers’ from the concerned authorities and technicians were not available at the godown.
“When the election representatives contacted the concerned authorities and administration, no satisfactory answers were received. Apart from this, technician is also not available at the said place. Also our representatives are not allowed to inspect the EVM status. This is very serious”, she said.
He demanded that the Election Commission should immediately take notice of this and announce the reasons why the CCTV was closed. Apart from this, appropriate action should be taken against those responsible for the incident, she added.
However, responding to Sule’s allegations, Returning Officer for the constituency, Kavita Dwivedi, said that the CCTV system in the warehouse where the EVMs were stored was ‘fully operational’ and “only the display on the ‘display unit was temporarily closed’.
Dwivedi denied any negligence in storing of EVMs and said in a statement, “A three-tier security is in place, and EVMs are all duly sealed, and the seals are intact. The returning officer visits the strong room regularly. Apart from this, as per office order AROS and AAROs visit the strong room as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India. It is denied that there is any negligence in storing EVMs.”