During the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, in the early hours of the morning, a mob came and threw the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines into a pond at booth numbers 40 and 41 in Kultai, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Saturday morning.
The Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal spoke on X, formerly Twitter, that an FIR has been lodged by the Sector Officer, and necessary action has been initiated. The CEO has stated that fresh EVMs were provided.
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Today morning at 6.40 am Reserve EVMs & papers of Sector Officer near Benimadhavpur FP school, at 129-Kultali AC of 19-Jaynagar (SC) PC has been looted by local mob and 1 CU, 1 BU , 2VVPAT machines have been thrown inside a pond.— CEO West Bengal (@CEOWestBengal) June 1, 2024
PTI shared visuals of the EVMs floating in water.
VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: EVM and VVPAT machine were reportedly thrown in water by a mob at booth number 40, 41 in Kultai, South 24 Parganas, #WestBengal.
(Source: Third Party)#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/saFiNcG3e4
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 1, 2024
The CEO of West Bengal gave details of the event, narrating how at at 6:40 am, reserve EVMs, papers of the Sector Officer was looted by a mob, along with that one Control Unit, one Ballot Unit, and two VVPAT machines were taken and thrown into a nearby pond. The CEO has assured on his social media that elections are continuing without any further hassle in the state with fresh EVMs.
As per a report in the Times of India, the incident occurred because some polling agents were denied entry in the polling area.
As per reports, Friday night witnessed conflict flare up in Sandeshkhali, at the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency. Local women took to the streets in protest. They alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists and state police had been threatening their families.
The women specifically accused workers of the now-suspended Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who is currently in prison, of the intimidation tactics. However, state police have said a different version and have stated that the unrest began when local BJP supporters assaulted others.
As of now, the country is witnessing polling in 13 constituencies in Punjab, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, 9 in West Bengal, 8 in Bihar, 6 in Odisha, 4 in Himachal Pradesh, 3 in Jharkhand, and Chandigarh.
West Bengal is going ahead with voting in 9 constituencies, which include Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar. As per available data, around 10.06 crore Indians are eligible voters in this round of polling.
Meanwhile, as Prime Minister Modi’s constituency goes to vote on the final day of voting, the Samajwadi Party has taken to X to claim that the Congress’ button on the EVM had a tape sealed over it. The party has tagged election and district officials on their tweet as well.
UP Take has reported voters saying that in Ballia the EVMs voters were asked to vote on were faulty and non-functional. The person has alleged that there was no sound coming from the EVM when she had gone to vote, and the election officials at the site reportedly told her to vote and leave.
The elections have seen numerous claims of bogus voting, booth capturing, denial of right to vote, and allegations of EVM theft. The Samajwadi Party recently led a night-long protest vigil in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur after they saw a truck full of EVMs being transported. They accused the BJP of trying to do vote tampering.
Similarly, scores of Muslims were reportedly denied the right to vote in UP’s Sambhal, as well as Gujarat where Muslim fishermen found that over 500 members of the community did not find their names in the list.
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