Amid fears of tampering with the Electronic Voting Machines, the Congress party workers have been keeping a night vigil outside three counting centres for Gurugram Lok Sabha constituency across as many districts, including Rewari and Nuh.
A three-tier round-the-clock security is in place at the strongrooms in Gurugram district and more than 700 policemen are deployed, besides para-military personnel. The strongrooms for the EVMs have been set up at Government Girls’ College in Sector 14 here.
Congress candidate from Gurugram, Capt. Ajay Yadav, said the workers had been keeping a vigil outside the counting centres in Nuh and Rewari at night since the EVMs were moved to the strongrooms after the polling on May 12, and a vigil was also kept in Gurugram on Tuesday night.
“We have been keeping a close eye on the activities around the counting centres in Nuh and Rewari during night time for the last over ten days. Our men also kept guard in Gurugram on Wednesday,” said Capt. Yadav, who will be present in Nuh during the counting of votes on Thursday.
Capt. Yadav, the six-time MLA, said the counting agents were being educated about the process and told to check the seal and sign of the booth agent on the machines.
Security arrangements
Of the three-tier security ring, the inner-most ring comprises the Seema Suraksha Bal personnel and the middle-ring comprises the Indian Reserve Battalion. The local police are deployed to form the outer ring.
Gurugram police spokesperson Subhash Boken said seven check-points were set up on the roads leading to the counting centre and advised the motorists to avoid the roads in its vicinity during the counting of votes. “No unauthorised person will be allowed to enter the centre,” said Mr. Boken.
Counting centres
Of the nine Assembly constituencies, the counting for Gurugram, Badshahpur, Pataudi and Sohna will be carried out at the women’s college in Gurugram. Similarly, the counting centres in Nuh and Rewari have been set up at Yaseem Meo Degree College and Government Girls College, Sector 18 respectively.
The Assembly segments of Badshahpur and Punhana will have the highest number of 25 rounds of counting. Badshahpur has the highest 338 booths, but Punhana with just 194 booths will have equal number of rounds since only eight EVMs will be taken up for counting in each round. In Badshahpur, 14 EVMs will be counted in each round.
Returning Officer and Gurugram Deputy Commissioner, Amit Khatri, said the counting of VVPATs would be taken up after all the rounds are completed.
