Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that his party’s opposition BJP for trying to “steal” votes and claimed the truck that was carrying EVMs were “intercepted” in Varanasi; however, the Election Commission clarified that the machines were intended for training officials for counting duties and not for use in elections.
In a statement released late Tuesday night, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of UP declared that people of some political party spread the ” ‘rumour by stopping the vehicle and alleging that these EVMs were used in elections”.
READ MORE: Samajwadi Party Leader Azam Khan Secures Bail in Land Grab Case
According to the information issued to the district election officer (of Varanasi), it was discovered during the investigation that the EVMs were marked to facilitate training.
“To train the officials involved in counting duty, training has been organised for March 9 (Wednesday),” it read.
A group of top SP leaders Naresh Uttam and Rajendra Chaudhary, and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party’s director Om Prakash Rajbhar and Janwadi Party’s (Socialist) Sanjay Chauhan submitted an email addressed to the Election Commission alleging the “stealing of EVMs in Varanasi”.
Alongside Uttar Pradesh, assembly elections will occur in 4 states Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The counting of votes in all five states is expected to appear on the 10th of March.
