CM Mamata flags ‘EVM tampering’ fears, tells workers to stay alert

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday warned her party leaders and workers of possible tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and asked them to guard the machines vigilantly.

Addressing an election rally in Jiaganj in Murshidabad district, CM Banerjee said: “If an EVM is damaged, you will have to wait. Do not allow the same EVMs to be used again for voting. Do not allow them to reuse an EVM after repairs. They may insert a chip in the name of repair to tamper with it. There is no job that they cannot do. Once the voting is done and EVMs are stored, guard these machines with your lives.”

Meanwhile, CM Banerjee also broke her silence over the chaos that unfolded during the BJP’s roadshow in her Bhabanipur constituency last week, which was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Claiming that people were brought in from outside for the roadshow, she said, “There was an attack in front of my house in Bhabanipur. They were spitting on my posters. Shoes were pointed at Abhishek’s house. Local people protested against it. This is not politics. They even brought outsiders to file their nominations.”

Last week’s roadshow in Kolkata was marred by chaos as Trinamool Congress workers showed black flags and shoes to BJP leaders and workers while the procession was passing near Banerjee’s residence.

A scuffle soon ensued between workers of the two parties.

The Union Home Minister had to get down from the makeshift ‘rath’ and travel in a car to the Survey Building in Alipore, where BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari filed his nomination papers. In the aftermath of the incident, the Election Commission suspended four police officers in the Bhabanipur area.

Meanwhile, she claimed that the Election Commission removed around 500 officers in a manner that could disrupt administrative work in the state.

Banerjee also warned that deleting names from voter lists amounts to intimidating voters. “This time we will bring a separate budget for farmers… 500 officers have been removed from here so that Bengal’s work stops. You can halt the work for one month, but after the elections, all work will resume. If you are striking off someone’s name, you are trying to intimidate them,” she said.

IANS