Fewer than 15 EVMs crashed: BJP

Mumbai: Dismissing the Opposition’s allegation that one-fourth of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) used in the bypolls to two Lok Sabha seats crashed on Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya claimed fewer than 15 EVMs had malfunctioned.

BJP leaders in charge of poll management said these EVMs were installed in polling centres in remote areas, making it difficult for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to repair or replace them. They said the claim of faulty EVMs is a political gimmick by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Senior State BJP leader Yogesh Sagar said, “This has become a poll jumla for the Congress and the NCP. According to our cadre, EVMs malfunctioned at less than 15 locations because of battery issues. The extreme heat also played a minor part. It isn’t the collective failure of machines as they (Opposition) are making it out to be.”

According to the State Election Commission, 4,246 EVMs and another 5,360 VVPTs were used in both Parliamentary constituencies. In Palghar, where the Opposition claimed a majority of EVMs reported faults, 2,097 EVMs were used, while 2,149 were used in Bhandara-Gondiya. The charges were denied by the EC, which said there was no EVM failure. “News reports surfacing in the media alleging ‘large scale’ failure of EVMs and VVPATs in the ongoing by-elections and interruption of polling in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are an exaggerated projection of reality,” the ECI said.

BJP leaders said EVMs were tested at 13 locations, and have been supplied by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), a Government of India subsidiary. The same machines were tested at two locations in the Nanded elections. “The same machines have been used in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. There is little or no scope of these EVMs being tampered with,” a senior BJP Minister said.