Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday wondered if doubts were being raised over EVM’s sanctity in connection with the Mumbai North West constituency only because the winner belongs to his party Shiv Sena.He was responding to a question tied to a report about a relative of Sena’s Ravindra Waikar, who defeated Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Amol Kirtikar by just 48 seats from the seat, using a mobile phone linked to an EVM during vote counting on June 4.
Meanwhile, a poll official on Sunday said an EVM was a standalone system with "robust administrative safeguards" to protect it from any kind of manipulation and that there was no need of an OTP to unlock it.Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was reacting to a report in Mid-day newspaper about a kin of Ravindra Waikar, the Shiv Sena candidate who emerged victorious there by a wafer thin margin of 48 votes, using a mobile phone connected to an EVM during vote counting on June 4.
#WATCH | Mumbai Suburban Returning Officer, Vandana Suryavanshi says, "No OTP is needed to unlock the EVM. There is no mobile OTP needed to unlock the EVM as it is a non-programmable offence...It has advanced technical features and there is no communication device on the EVM...It… pic.twitter.com/EEB4Cn4AlT
— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2024
The Election Commission has issued a notice to the Mumbai-based newspaper under IPC sections for defamation and spreading fake news.
Election Commission has issued a statement on alleged tampering in EVMs in the North West Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency pic.twitter.com/DahQOzAPGf
— IANS (@ians_india) June 16, 2024
The Mumbai Police filed an FIR on Saturday against Mangesh Pandilkar, a relative of Waikar, and also against poll officer Dinesh Gurav. The FIR was registered based on a complaint by Suchitra Patil, who was an assistant election officer.
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