JMM complains of EVM tampering

RANCHI: The

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

(

JMM

) accused the Raghubar Das government of tampering and blocking the electronic voting machines (EVM), to give BJP candidate Hemlal Murmu the lead, during polling at

Littipara

constituency on Sunday.

JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya alleged that polling officials deliberately delayed polling in 56 booths in Gopikandar, Hiranpur and Amrapara blocks, citing fake technical snags and turned away several voters during the first three hours of the day. Polling began at 7am and concluded at 3pm.

During a press meet at JMM headquarters in Ranchi after completion of polls, Bhattacharya claimed that 24 EVMs were tampered with in the rural pockets, namely Govindpur, Hiranpur and Amrapara. Bhattacharya also alleged that although the 24 EVMs were replaced, re-polling was not conducted at the booths. The Littipara assembly seat comprises 272 booths in total.

The tribal party, which is looking to retain the Littipara seat it won with a 24,000 vote margin during the 2014 assembly election, termed Sunday’s bypoll as historic. “Despite the online supervision and monitoring of chief minister Raghubar Das and the challenges put up by the administration to favour the BJP candidate, over 65% voters came out to exercise their franchise. It is indeed a historic day,” he said. The JMM camp predicted that it will retain the seat with a wider vote margin when compared to 2014.

The largest singular opposition party also accused the Das government of misleading Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the latter’s Sahibganj visit on April 6. JMM claimed that the 311 kilometre road between Govindpur and Sahebganj, which Modi declared open last week, is yet to witness the remaining 20% construction.

Bhattacharya further alleged that Das government recently renamed the Special Indian Reserve Battalion (SIRB), which was announced late last year, to lure Paharia voters. “The SIRB is a battalion comprising primitive tribal groups. Moreover, the police personnel are not given appointment letters like that of a multi-national company. It was a gimmick that was created to woo voters. The PMO and the Union home ministry was misled by the Das government,” he alleged, demanding a detailed home ministry inquiry into the April 6 program.