When the BJP candidate arrived in the town of the strong room, opposition supporters identified him.
Guwahati:
The inexplicable decision of the voting panel team to use a private vehicle to transport an electronic voting machine (EVM) at the end of the vote sparked violence in the Barak Valley region of Assam yesterday. The police resorted to blank firing into the air and charging a massive crowd, mostly opposition supporters, with batons, which surrounded the car, which incidentally belonged to a BJP candidate in Karimganj district. The EVM is safe as are election staff, authorities said.
Assam went through the second phase of the polls yesterday, registering more than 77 percent participation and some cases of violence. One of the incidents took place in Karimganj, and a video of the riots was widely shared on social media.
It occurred after the breakdown of the vehicle assigned by the Election Commission of a voting team stationed in the Ratanari electoral district of Karimganj. The team was on its way back to the strong room after the end of the vote, official sources reported to NDTV. The president contacted the sector official to request a replacement vehicle and was secured one.
However, election staff took an inexplicable lift in a private vehicle, which turned out to belong to the BJP candidate from Patharkandi constituency, also in Karimganj district, sources said. An official said today that one of the candidate’s relatives was the owner of the car.
As the car approached the location where the security camera is located, opposition supporters identified the vehicle and assaulted it, along with the driver; police personnel ran for safety.
The district administration had to resort to police action to disperse the crowd and secure the vehicle, the EVM and the voting staff, authorities said.
The opposition has cited the incident to allege “capture of EVM” by the ruling BJP. Gaurav Gogoi from Congress, for example, has said that “this is the only way the BJP can win Assam.”
This is the only way the BJP can win Assam: by looting the EVMs. EVM capture, as there used to be cockpit capture. Everything under the nose of the Electoral Commission. Sad day for democracy. #EVM_theft_Assam# AssamAssemblyElection2021https://t.co/5dmlu67Uui
– Gaurav Gogoi (@GauravGogoiAsm) April 1, 2021
Naming the BJP a serial offender in such cases, Congressional Leader Priyanka Gandhi, in a series of tweets, sought “a serious reassessment of the use of EVM” by all national parties.
Every time there is an election, videos of captured private vehicles appear transporting the EVM program. Unsurprisingly, they have the following things in common:
1. Vehicles usually belong to BJP candidates or their associates. ….
1/3 https://t.co/s8W9Oc0UcV
– Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 2, 2021
Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF, which is in alliance with Congress, tweeted saying that “stealing EVMs” was the BJP’s last resort after all its other moves: “polarization”, “vote buying”, “double talk on CAA” , among others. – had failed.
Polarization? It has failed.
Buy votes? It has failed.
Buy candidates? It has failed.
Jumle-baazi? It has failed.
Double CM? It has failed.
Double talk about AAC? It has failed.
Loser BJP’s Last Resort: Stealing EVMs.
Assassination of democracy.#EVM_theft_Assam# AssamAssemblyElection2021https://t.co/2TRZRFvqDb– Maulana Badruddin Ajmal (@BadruddinAjmal) April 2, 2021
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