The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India have urged the Election Commission to deploy additional forces at all counting centres to prevent tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) by officials at the instance of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner on Friday, AIADMK Advocates' Wing secretary P.H. Manoj Pandian said he had requested the EC to issue instructions to all Returning Officers in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to permit agents of AIADMK candidates to be present at counting centres round the clock.
He also requested the Election Commission to deploy paramilitary forces at all the counting centres.
He urged the Election Commission to conduct a thorough enquiry by an independent agency into the charge that some EVMs at Tirunelveli and Coimbatore were tampered with by officials while transporting the machines to counting centres.
Alleging that the DMK had unleashed violence during Assembly by polls, Parliament, co-operative and local body elections, CPI (M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the police had turned a blind eye to it. “In addition to the State police force, the Election Commission should deploy additionally Central Reserve Force at all the counting centres,” he said.
