By
L.S. Herdenia
BHOPAL: Both the major parties, Congress
and BJP, are suspecting that attempts may be made to disrupt the counting
tomorrow. Surprisingly, no less a person than Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh
Chouhan has asked party men to remain alert. Expressing confidence that BJP
will be able to form the government in Madhya Pradesh for the fourth time, the
chief minister urged BJP workers to be vigilant, saying Congress may create
hurdles during counting.
Addressing
party candidates, district presidents, Vidhan Sabha in-charges and MP’s over
audio bridge facility on Sunday, Chouhan said that Congress was creating hype
over the election results after its failed bid to question EVMs and the
impartiality of the Election Commission.
He
advised party workers to remain calm and observant during counting of votes and
counter Congress’ propaganda as BJP was going to form government in the state.
Congress is distressed and creating a propaganda, claiming victory in the
elections. Earlier too Congress had created a hue and cry over the EVMs. The
party might also create obstacles at the time of counting and BJP will counter
this, Chouhan said.
The
chief minister is learnt to have told BJP workers to keep an eye on postal
ballots and be alert during every round. “Congress leaders are making
unreasonable statements. They first raised doubts over functioning of EVMs and
even blamed the Election Commission. The BJP state chief Rakesh Singh also
discussed all such issues with the party workers during the audio conferencing
to thwart Congress propaganda,” Chouhan said.
He
said that the party workers were happy and confident of winning the elections
with a big majority. All the polling agents and table-in charge have been asked
to keep a vigil during the counting of votes and given tips during signing of
certificates after every round of counting. BJP will sweep this election with a
clear majority, said a confident Chouhan.
Though
BJP state chief Rakesh Singh and cabinet minister Gopal Bhargava admitted that
exit polls were putting mental pressure on the party workers, they ruled out
the possibility of a close contest between Congress and BJP. The duo said that
Congress was trying to create mental pressure through exit poll results but,
that will not affect party’s confidence.
Earlier
the CM held separate meetings with the state BJP president and senior leaders
to discuss the strategy after poll results. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar
and national vice-president Prabhat Jha, who were present during the core group
meeting late on Saturday night, reached New Delhi on Sunday to inform the party
leadership about the preparations.
Meanwhile,
Congress has also asked party men to remain vigilant and has issued a long list
of ‘dos’ and ‘dont’s’ for counting agents. Expecting a close contest in the
polls, the Congress has issued 58-point tips for the counting agents. The tips
have been prepared by the legal experts of the party. According to J. P.
Dhanopia, party’s spokesperson for legal affairs, the counting agents have been
asked to be extra cautious when postal ballots are taken up. They have been
asked not only to see that the postal votes are valid and are counted properly
but also to ensure that they are not rejected without any genuine reason.
Postal
ballots are counted ahead of EVM votes, but if counting exceeds half-an-hour,
the EVM votes are taken up for counting. In any case counting of postal ballot
must be completed before counting of votes cast in EMVs ends.
He
also underlined that if the margin of defeat in any constituency is less that
the total postal ballots polled, recounting of votes must be ordered
irrespective of any candidate making a request. They have also been apprised
that of the two parts of EVMs- control unit and ballot unit- only the former is
provided for counting. The party has requested them that they should tally
details provided to them in form 17-C at the time a particular EVM was sealed
following poling with the details of that EVM machine as given at the time of
counting. The counting agents have also been told to necessarily check the
“green paper seal” of the EVM control unit and see that it is intact. The seal
gets broken if the machine has been tampered with. They have also been
cautioned to tally the votes as cast in EVMs with the votes declared as counted
after each round and declaration of the result.
If
there is any EVM machine brought to use after an EVM developed snag during
polling, its number should be tallied with the number given at the time of
polling and if the numbers do not tally an objection should be raised with the
election officer. The counting agents have also been asked to prepare a chart
of votes secured by candidates of fringe parties and independents so that there
is no manipulation possible in the official chart being prepared and “transfer
of votes” secured by those candidate to BJP candidate is stopped.
A
delegation from Congress met the chief electoral officer (CEC) on Sunday, and
demanded that government of India-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL)
network should be used for webcasting and for CCTV cameras installed at all the
district headquarters where the counting of votes is done. In a letter handed
over to the CEC, Congress has alleged that its volunteers deputed at the strong
rooms in the district headquarters to monitor the security of the EVMs have
lodged multiple complaints about the possibility EVMs being tampered with in
the name of regular power outages witnessed already since the EVMs were kept in
the strong rooms after voting was held on November 28. The delegation also alleged
that due to power outages, cameras installed in the strong rooms stop working
and complaints have been lodged as this situation lingers on for many hours.
The letter states that monitoring of
the counting spots is to be done via CCTV cameras and webcasting and equipment
of private companies are being deployed due to which inappropriate situation
may arise. Employees of private companies are loitering around the EVMs and are
installing wi-fi networks. Information is being received that private companies
have registered domains using which webcasting will be done during counting. If
webcasting is not done from EC’s platform, the data could be fudged and impact
the counting, alleges the letter. (IPA
Service)
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