THENI
Members of Opposition parties, including the DMK and the Congress, laid a siege to Theni taluk office on Tuesday night, alleging an attempt to replace EVMs used in the Lok Sabha election.
The protest followed the arrival of 50 EVMs from Coimbatore in the night. As rumour of attempt to replace the EVMs stored at the counting centre with the new ones spread, functionaries of the DMK, Congress, CPI (M) and the CPI reached the taluk office, where the EVMs transported from Coimbatore were kept, and sought an explanation from officials.
In the absence of a convincing answer, party men laid a siege to the office, demanding removal of the new EVMs. Officials, including Collector M. Pallavi Baldev and Superintendent of Police V. Baskaran, reached the taluk office and explained to the agitators that the transfer of unused EVMs was a routine exercise and it was not possible to replace the used ones.