BHUBANESWAR: After registering several complaints with the Election Commission over alleged poll code violation in Patkura by the BJD, the state BJP on Sunday accused polling officers of helping the ruling party in rigging several booths of the assembly constituency.
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Making a series of allegation against polling officers, state BJP secretary Lekhashri Samantsinghar said EVM machines of two polling booths (220 and 294) of Garadpur block have not reached the strong room.
Alleging that several EVM machines were tampered by the ruling party agents inside polling booths and during transportation to strong room, the BJP leader said video clips of such irregularities are in circulation in social media.
This could not be possible without active support from the officers in charge of conducting ‘free and fair’ election, she said.
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Earlier, the party had lodged complaints before the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) against ruling party leaders for distributing old age pension and other enticements to influence voters.
Apprehending tampering of voting machines to rig Patkura election by BJD, the saffron party had also urged the CEO take adequate security measures.
However, the CEO did not take any measures to prevent such irregularities which proved that the election machinery helped the ruling party, she alleged.