With two weeks left for the counting of votes for the recently held Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Congress is not in mood to lower its guard for the security of EVMs in its bid to ensure victory.
Ever since the elections concluded on 12 November peacefully in a single phase, Congress candidates and party workers have been raising doubts over the security of the EVMs.
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Despite assurances by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneea Garg on high-security cordon of the EVMs with CCTV cameras being monitored round the clock in compliance with the norms of the Election Commission, some candidates and party workers have been airing their apprehensions about EVM tampering and rigging.
Recently, a Congress candidate, Ghumarwin Rajesh Dharmani, raised doubt over the security of the EVMs in his Assembly constituency (AC) and alleged that a person was seen suspiciously taking rounds of the strong room setup in the Swami Vivekanand College, Ghumarwin trying to shoot a video where EVMs had been kept.
The Ghumarwin Block Congress party workers had also held a demonstration outside the gate of the college and raised slogans against the district administration and the police.
In different parts of the state the candidates and party workers have even pitched tents for a round-the-clock surveillance outside the strong room in some parts of the state including Una, Hamirpur, Kullu, Bilaspur and other districts.
Meanwhile, putting a plan in motion, Congress in-charge Rajeev Shukla will hold an important meeting on Tuesday with all the 68 candidates of the party who contested the elections, as the party claims that the massive mandate given by the people of Himachal in favour of the Congress should not be rigged by anyone.
Shukla will also take election feedback from all candidates and will review preparations before the counting of the votes and announcement of the results on the same day.
A workshop on counting guidance will also be held via zoom that would be participated by Rajeev Shukla and Himachal co-incharge Tejender Bittu and Vinod Verma of Chhattisgarh during which Shukla will give necessary tips to all the leaders for the security of EVMs and monitoring of strong rooms.
Besides, Shukla all other senior leaders of the party will urge all their candidates and workers to work diligently till the day of election results.