After finding the truck filled with the voting apparatus, the Samajwadi Party workers have accused the BJP of illegally transporting the EVMs.
The incident quickly drew attention online, with video clips showing EVMs being loaded on a mini truck spreading quickly across social media platforms. Hate Detectors, a page on X (formerly Twitter), that documents hate crimes, posted the videos on their page.
According to local news reports, the incident took place in the Sarai Khwaja area, near the campus of Purvanchal University in Devkali village.
In #UttarPradesh‘s #Jaunpur, #SamajwadiParty workers caught a tempo loaded with #EVM‘s near the strong room where polled EVMs were kept.
DM insists the EVMs were on reserve and mistakenly took them outside the strong room.
According to SP workers, DM provided no documentary… pic.twitter.com/j1IgpKCC0h
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) May 27, 2024
According to Siasat News, SP leader and Jaunpur candidate Babu Singh Kushwaha has claimed that when people from the SP confronted and stopped the truck, the driver of the truck fled. He also stated that the DM was not able to provide any proof or document that could determine for sure that the EVMs were reserve EVMs.
However, the District Magistrate arrived at the scene as the crowd gathered angrily in protest and checked the EVMs. He spoke to the media at the site and asserted that these were reserve EVMs that were kept for Mungra Badshahpur. He further explained, according to a report in Jagran, that these EVMs would have been used in case of any malfunction or shortage of EVMs.
कल दिनांक 25 -05-24 को विधानसभा मुंगराबादशाहपुर हेतु रिज़र्व किये गए अप्रयुक्त ईवीएम मशीन मिनी ट्रक के माध्यम से ARO office मुंगराबादशाहपुर से कलेक्ट्रेट स्थित ईवीएम वेयरहाउस में जमा करने हेतु तहसीलदार मछलीशहर वाहन लेकर पूर्वांचल विश्वविद्यालय मार्ग से वापस आ रहे थे। जाम अधिक… pic.twitter.com/jzRDvXP4Yh
— DM JAUNPUR (@DMjaunpur) May 26, 2024
Jaunpur saw polls on May 25th in the second to last round of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections in India. According to UP Tak, after voting concluded in the district at around 6 PM, the EVMs were placed in the strong room. However, SP workers gathered outside the strong room for monitoring. The issue began when a truck filled with EVMs arrived around there at around 11 PM when they started protesting.
After their protests, the EVMs were placed in a separate warehouse of the collectorate. The SP leaders which included MLA Lucky Yadav, Mungra Badshahpur MLA Pankaj Patel, and SP candidate Babu Singh Kushwaha and several supporters continued to stay there for a good portion of the night.
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