Rohtak: Fearing foul play, Congress workers guard strongrooms

Rohtak, May 27

In an initiative to ensure that there is no foul play with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) between the polling process and counting of votes, Congress workers are guarding the strongrooms, where the EVMs have been kept.

The workers are keeping a close watch over the live CCTV footage of the EVM strongrooms through an LED screen installed outside the rooms.

“We are working in shifts to keep a round-the-clock vigil. Another team will arrive after our duty is over. We had come when the EVMs were brought here soon after the completion of the polling process on May 25. We will stay here till the counting of votes begins on June 4,” says Anil, a party worker.

Anil and other party workers, Sumit and Abhishek, are putting up in a tent outside a strongroom at MKJK College in Rohtak, where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been kept. Interestingly, many youths deployed at the strongrooms in Rohtak are from Sanghi, the native village of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

“Congress candidate Deepender Singh Hooda lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Rohtak by a slim margin. There were doubts and allegations of tampering with the EVMs during the last elections, so this time we want to be absolutely sure that there is no foul play,” said Anil.

The district administration has made arrangements of drinking water, mattresses, tent and coolers, etc here.

District Magistrate Ajay Kumar said adequate police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed at the strongrooms to ensure the security of the ballot units, control units and VVPATs of all four Assembly segments in Rohtak. “Duty Magistrates have also been deployed at the strongrooms in three shifts till June 4,” said Kumar.

Faridabad: The Congress candidate from Faridabad, Mahender Pratap Singh, has also deployed party workers outside the nine strongrooms set up in Faridabad and Palwal districts to ensure that there is no chance of any irregularity or tampering with the machines.

“Though two to three-layer security has been provided by the district election authorities, we have stationed three to four youths at each strongroom to keep a close watch,” said Rahul Vijay Pratap, a family member of the Congress candidate. He said the party could not leave this responsibility only on the official security as the rival candidate was from the ruling party.

Karnal: Two strongrooms have been established at SD Senior Secondary School and DAV Senior Secondary School here where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used for polling in five Assembly segments of the Karnal Lok Sabha elections as well as Assembly bypoll have been kept along with the control units and relevant documents. There is a three-tier security arrangement for the EVMs, comprising the paramilitary forces, Haryana Armed Police and Haryana Police.

Panipat: The party workers are also putting up in a tent in front of an EVM strongroom at Arya College. The EVMs of four Assembly segments – Panipat (urban), Panipat (rural), Israna and Samalkha – have been kept at Arya PG College and Arya Girls College.