2018 MP election video viral as BJP and Election Commission illegally hoarding EVMs - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
25th March 2019 / 2:44 pm / Last updated: 13th April 2019
“मोदी,शाह,चुनाव आयोग की मिलीभगत की खुली पोल।मध्य प्रदेश के बीना बाजार में बिना नंबर की स्कूल गाड़ी और 3बोलेरो जीप में सैकड़ों EVM मशीन strong room में रखते हुए पकड़े गये। (The conspiracy of Modi, Shah and the Election Commission is revealed. They were caught while storing several EVM machines in strong rooms from an unnumbered school bus and three Bolero jeeps.),” is a claim viral on social media. The accompanying video shows hundreds of EVMs recovered from vehicles.
मध्य प्रदेश के ‘बीना बाज़ार’ में बिना नंबर की स्कूल गाड़ी और 3 बोलेरो जीप में सैकड़ों EVM मशीनें strong room में रखवाई जा रहीं थीं…
जनता द्वारा पकड़े जाने पर कोई भी ज़िम्मेदार अधिकारी जवाब नहीं दे पा रहा है…!! 😡
इस वीडियो को ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा शेयर करें ताकि जनता को असलियत का पता चल सके और लोकतंत्र बच सके… 🙏🏼
Posted by Shabih Abidi on Tuesday, 26 March 2019
From a Facebook page ਕੌਮ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਾਨ, the video attracted 48,000 views but was later taken down. An archived version of the post can be accessed here.
The video is widely circulated on social media with the identical claims that PM Modi, Amit Shah and the Election Commission sketched a conspiracy to store electronic voting machines in strong rooms, and these were transported in an unnumbered school bus and two Bolero jeeps.
Alt News found that the video pertained to a November 2018 incident when Congress workers accused the BJP of voter tampering before the MP assembly elections. It was claimed these EVMs reached the polling booth 48 hours after the voting concluded.
मप्र के गृहमंत्री के क्षेत्र में मतदान के 48 घंटे बाद बिना नंबर की गाड़ी से ईवीएम स्ट्रांग रूम में जमा कराने का प्रयास हुआ।
—भाजपा को जिताने के लिये ईवीएम बदलने की सरकारी साज़िश..?
कलेक्टर, एसपी समेत निर्वाचन कार्य में लगे तमाम लोगों पर सख़्त कार्यवाही कर लोकतंत्र की रक्षा हो। pic.twitter.com/lj588NdyA5
— MP Congress (@INCMP) November 30, 2018
The Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh, however, claimed that these were ‘reserve’ EVMs, stationed at police stations and to be used as a replacement for malfunctioning machines during polling. “Such machines were to be stored separately from polled EVMs. Strong room having polled EVMs was neither opened nor was supposed to be opened,” read the tweet by CEO MP Elections.
These are EVMs kept as ‘Reserve’ stationed at some Police stations, to be used as replacement for malfunctioning machines during Poll. Such machines were to be stored separately from polled EVMs. Strong room having Polled EVMs was neither opened nor was supposed to be opened. https://t.co/usco7xQpD1
— CEOMPElections (@CEOMPElections) November 30, 2018
NDTV had reported the incident, presenting claims from both the sides. According to the news report, government officials were not providing clear answers on the issue.
The video’s current virality misleads social media users that the incident was recent and the alleged tampering was done to rig the coming general elections. The video, however, is from last year’s Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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