BSP alleges intrusion into Jalandhar strongroom

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 21

BSP candidate Balwinder Kumar today alleged that some persons reportedly entered the building where strongrooms for keeping EVMs have been made. He said he was informed about the matter by his supporters, who have been camping outside the Directorate of Land Records (DLR) office, to keep a check on any suspicious activity.

In Jalandhar, strongrooms have been established inside the DLR office, Patwar School and Government Sports College on the Kapurthala Road.

“The moment I learnt about this, I called up the deputy commissioner and asked him to verify the identity of the persons who had gone inside,” said Balwinder, adding that they were apprehensive that the tampering might take place with the help of a Bluetooth device or any other gadget. “It is the responsibility of the administration to guard the EVMs. Already people have doubts about EVMs, which is why any suspicious activity is taken seriously,” the candidate said.

When Kumar reached the spot, district officials tried to convince him that the so-called suspicious persons had come to install laptops in the control room that is being set up next to the strongrooms for counting of votes.

Kulwant Singh Heer, ADC (Development), said apart from the counting centre and strongroom, a control room for the returning officers is also established and the officials had come there to connect laptops. “The EVMs are not net-enabled, so there is no point of any kind of tampering with it in any way and also we have told them that only those with the authority letters are allowed inside,” Heer said. The officials said since the exit polls were out, candidates were getting anxious about the results. “Even a small report that does not even hold any significance is being taken seriously,” an official said.