LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: A day after the Samajwadi Party alleged that electronic voting machines were being shifted in an unauthorised manner, the Election Commission on Wednesday removed three officials from election duty in UP.
The nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been pulled out from election duties, a day ahead of the counting of votes in UP.
Earlier in the day, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav shot off a letter to the EC seeking webcasting of the counting process. The SP chief wrote to the EC a day after he levelled some serious allegations of manipulation of voting machines in Varanasi.
“The Samajwadi Party demands that for all constituencies, webcasting of the counting process should be done and the link should be shared with the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner, polling officials and political parties...
So that the political parties can watch the counting process ‘live’, and the process can be conducted in a transparent and independent manner,” said the letter written in Hindi.
Akhilesh Yadav had accused the ruling party on Tuesday of trying to “steal the votes” by manipulating EVMs. The SP chief had claimed that since his party candidate was winning the Ayodhya seat, the BJP got scared and asked the DM concerned to slow down the counting process.
However, the BJP registered a strong objection to the allegations and a party delegation visited the ECI on Wednesday to register their protest against the claims of SP chief.
“Should such leaders even be allowed to participate in the elections, the ultimate celebration of democracy? The EC must take a view on the matter,” they said.