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TN parties manning strong rooms
MK Stalin and AIADMK leadership wrote to party cadre and coalition candidates, telling them to be cautious and maintain strict vigil outside strong rooms housing EVMs.
After the single-phase voting for Tamil Nadu assembly elections ended at 7pm on Tuesday, the focus shifted to 75 strong rooms across the state housing electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATS) units till the counting day on May 2. While Central forces guard the strong rooms 24x7, representatives of political parties are also allowed to maintain round-the-clock vigil in temporary shelters put up near strong rooms. Several such tents have come up inside the three Chennai college campuses, doubling up as strong rooms every election. Each tent can house at least 20 volunteers and some plastic chairs and four moveable fans, provided by the election commission.
After five months of non-stop campaigning and mobilisation of people, the ordinary party workers guard the strong rooms as an additional layer of security against any suspected “tampering”, a common yet unproven allegation in Indian politics. The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have already appealed to the cadre not to slip-up.
“Our mission is not yet complete,” said an April 7 letter to the cadre, written jointly by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam. “EVM storage centres must be guarded day and night by party volunteers,” the letter said. The party seeks to win a third consecutive term.
Similarly, Stalin wrote to party cadre and coalition candidates, telling them to be cautious. “It is our chief duty to keep an eye on the centers until the counting of votes takes place,” Stalin said. “Be vigilant 24-hours of the day. I urge (you) to sit and watch with vigilance on a turn-by-turn basis until the day of counting of votes, keeping in mind that the electoral mission continues.” He also recollected the illegal entry of a Tahsildar into a strong room in Madurai in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The DMK has stationed at least six people outside each strong room in the state. “They will work in shifts and keep vigil round the clock,” said DMK’s organising secretary R S Bharathy. “They started the job last night.”
Each strong room approximately stores XXX EVMs and is protected by a three-tier security cover comprising XXX personnel. In the inner cordon, the security is provided by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the middle cordon is looked after by the state reserve police force and the outer cordon is secured by the local police, an official said. No one is allowed to enter the strong rooms and those visiting the premises are videographed. Even the power supply to the strong room is switched off to avoid the possibility of short-circuit or fire.
Party president MK Stalin contested from Kolathur in Chennai and voting machines from the constituency are stored in Loyola College. “The election commission sealed the strong room in front of us today at 1pm and it is extremely secure, no one can go in,” said DMK’s east wing district secretary in-charge of the constituency E Muralidharan. The strong rooms have been sealed and its security is verified by the chief agent of every contesting candidate. Muralidharan said two teams of six partymen will work in two shifts to keep a strict vigil.
In neighbouring Puducherry, the Congress said it had faith in the election commission. “25 days are left,” says Congress’ Puducherry president and candidate A V Subramanian referring to the day of counting on May 2. “Where the EVMs are stored is called the dark room here,” he adds. He says he has heard rumours about EVMs with chips, which can be remote controlled from a distance up to 300 meters. “But we can’t verify everything we hear. We believe it won’t be unsafe in Puducherry as it is guarded by police and CCTV cameras,” he added.
Needed a quote from the CEO on the rumour about chips in EVMs.
