Ensure voting machines are tamper proof: Congress urges EC

Ahmedabad: Citing past cases of tampering of electronic voting machines allegedly by BJP, Gujarat Congress on Tuesday asked the Election Commission in Ahmedabad to keep a close watch on EVMs to ensure free and fair polls today.  In his letter to the Election Commission, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Arjun Modhwadia claimed that voting machines were allegedly tampered with in the states of Assam, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand earlier. “The machines supplied to these states were already manipulated. If you press any button on those machines, vote is registered against ‘Lotus’ (BJP symbol). These machines were supplied by two companies based at Hyderabad and Bangalore,” Modhwadia’s letter claimed. “Earlier too, many complaints were found about defective EVM machines. Thus, I request you to take all the necessary steps, including installation of jammer devices at polling booths to stop voting machines being controlled through remote control or any other electronic device,” he said in the letter. PTI