Moving of EVMs, VVPATs riles opposition in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The sudden shifting of 50 unused EVMs from Coimbatore to Theni and 20 VVPAT machines to Erode on Tuesday night has kicked off a political storm in the state, with the opposition calling it a breach of norms laid down by the Election Commission.
This comes just weeks after three polling officials, including a tahsildhar, were suspended for accessing a storage room adjacent to the strong rooms where EVMs of Madurai Lok Sabha constituency were kept.
The controversy, coming in the wake of reports of largescale money distribution, especially by the ruling party, to voters, has brought the functioning of EC officials in the state under a cloud. Chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo, however, denied any wrongdoing by the officials stating that the machines were shifted for conducting re-polls.
But the opposition parties are far from convinced. While DMK chief M K Stalin has urged the EC to appoint a Special CEO for TN to safeguard the EVMs and strong rooms, TNCC chief K S Alagiri asked the EC not to conduct any repoll when there is lack of clarity over the functioning of its officials. DMK has also lodged a complaint with the EC office in Delhi against what it termed “unauthorized” shifting of EVMs in Tamil Nadu.