Rajkot: Even as nearly 100 electronic voting machines (EVMs) with technical glitch were replaced, the Congress leaders alleged that the voting machines were tampered in some booths in Porbandar, Navsari and Rajkot.
Former state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia, who is contesting from Porbandar, said the EVMS were connected with external devices like mobile phones through bluetooth at three polling booths in a Muslim-dominated area of the town
"The chips fitted in EVMs appear to be programmable using bluetooth and this raises the possibility of tampering. The voting system should be immune to such connectivity to external devices," he said.
The Election Commission (EC), which conducted an inquiry, found that the apprehension about tampering through bluetooth technology was baseless. The device which the complainant's mobile phone detected after putting on the bluetooth was not an EVM, but a mobile phone carried by a polling agent, the commission said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) B B Swain told reporters that the mobile phone of the complainant was detecting — when its bluetooth was activated — another device identified as 'ECO 105'. "ECO 105 was feared to be the EVM at the polling booth, giving rise to the fear of possible tampering through bluetooth technology," Swain said.
A similar complaint was flagged in Jalalpore constituency in Navsari district, but that too was found be baseless. The collector and observer were sent to the booths from where complaints were received and the complainant was also called. An inquiry was conducted in front of the local media and the report submitted by the district election officer is that a polling agent was carrying a mobile phone of Intex company bearing model number ECO 105, he said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Congress was searching for an excuse even before the results are out as it stares at a loss.
In Rajkot, Congress demanded re-polling in some booths of Rajkot (west) constituency alleging that EVMs were tampered through Wi Fi. Rajkot Congress' working president Mahesh Rajput said, "When voter pressed one button, there were three lights blinking. In many booths, the Wi Fi network with same code was captured in mobile. We suspect that few EVMs were tampered and we demand re-polling here." He alleged that this discrepancy was found in the booths of ward numbers 1, 9 and 10.
Former state Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia, who is contesting from Porbandar, said the EVMS were connected with external devices like mobile phones through bluetooth at three polling booths in a Muslim-dominated area of the town
"The chips fitted in EVMs appear to be programmable using bluetooth and this raises the possibility of tampering. The voting system should be immune to such connectivity to external devices," he said.
The Election Commission (EC), which conducted an inquiry, found that the apprehension about tampering through bluetooth technology was baseless. The device which the complainant's mobile phone detected after putting on the bluetooth was not an EVM, but a mobile phone carried by a polling agent, the commission said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) B B Swain told reporters that the mobile phone of the complainant was detecting — when its bluetooth was activated — another device identified as 'ECO 105'. "ECO 105 was feared to be the EVM at the polling booth, giving rise to the fear of possible tampering through bluetooth technology," Swain said.
A similar complaint was flagged in Jalalpore constituency in Navsari district, but that too was found be baseless. The collector and observer were sent to the booths from where complaints were received and the complainant was also called. An inquiry was conducted in front of the local media and the report submitted by the district election officer is that a polling agent was carrying a mobile phone of Intex company bearing model number ECO 105, he said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Congress was searching for an excuse even before the results are out as it stares at a loss.
In Rajkot, Congress demanded re-polling in some booths of Rajkot (west) constituency alleging that EVMs were tampered through Wi Fi. Rajkot Congress' working president Mahesh Rajput said, "When voter pressed one button, there were three lights blinking. In many booths, the Wi Fi network with same code was captured in mobile. We suspect that few EVMs were tampered and we demand re-polling here." He alleged that this discrepancy was found in the booths of ward numbers 1, 9 and 10.
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