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EVM Fiasco In Varanasi: Such Protocol Lapse Should Not Happen

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-03-09 13:42:16

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

It has been confirmed that the truck carrying EVMs in Varanasi that was intercepted by Samajwadi Party (SP) workers was loaded with training EVMs and not the machines on which voting had taken place. The protocol in such cases is that even if training, or even reserve, EVMs are moved out, candidates or workers of political parties have to be informed. This protocol is followed to avoid unpleasant situations like the present one where suspicions about tampering can arise. Based on the discovery of the EVM-laden truck, Akhilesh Yadav had yesterday accused the BJP government in UP of "stealing" the election.

Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma today issued a statement admitting the break in protocol and said that the training EVMs were to be removed in the morning of Thursday but were moved in the night of Wednesday by Additional DM N K Singh without informing anyone. NDTV, citing sources, has reported that Singh will be held accountable for the protocol lapse and is likely to be suspended by the Election Commission (EC). Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Agarwal, while confirming the protocol lapse, stressed the point that it was almost impossible to move EVMs used in voting due to the several layers of security and the additional protocol of several officers approving and sanctioning the movement.

While what Commissioner Agarwal said is true and vote-locked EVMs cannot be ordinarily touched, the problem is the movement of training and reserve machines. Since the movement of these machines before votes are counted can, and does, raise suspicions of tampering, the EC should have an additional protocol that mandates that all machines, irrespective of whether they were used for voting or not, are not moved from their place before the counting is done. That would prevent such lapses, suspicions and unpleasant situations. In the instant case, it must be found out what led Additional DM N K Singh to order the movement of those training EVMs bypassing the protocol. Also, as a responsible politician, Akhilesh Yadav should have ascertained the facts before making allegations of "stealing" the election. 

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