Tamil Nadu polls: Strong rooms under tight vigil as counting day draws near

Tamil Nadu polls: Strong rooms under tight vigil as counting day draws near

Despite Sunday being a holiday, ACs, computers and servers in the centres were functioning, raising suspicion.

Published: 20th April 2021 04:51 AM 

By Express News Service

KARUR/THANJAVUR: “The Election Commission must ensure that no electronic equipment is brought to the counting centre,” DMK’s Karur district in-charge, Senthil Balaji, said on Monday.Addressing reporters at M Kumaraswamy Engineering College in Karur, he said, “After the election on April 6, all EVMs, VVPATs and control units were shifted to the counting centre and stored in the college.

Despite Sunday being a holiday, ACs, computers and servers in the centres were functioning, raising suspicion. On receiving information from monitoring party representatives, we (Senthil Balaji, Aravakurichi candidate Monjanur Ilango and party cadre) arrived at the counting centre and inspected the security arrangements.

Earlier, a CCTV camera at the backside of the centre was installed only after we informed authorities about it. Our party representatives complained about the functioning of the computer lab on Saturday and Sunday. No one should bring any electronic gadget or equipment to the counting centre. Even if it is the college management, electronic devices must be strictly prohibited till counting ends. The ECI must restrict district administration from operating the college WiFi and servers till counting ends,” he said.

Meanwhile, DMK candidates of Thanjavur, Tiruvaiyaru and Orathanadu visited the counting centre set up at Kunthavai Naacchiaar Government Arts College for Women on Monday and inspected the working of CCTV cameras from the room allocated for representatives of political parties. EVMs used in three constituencies are kept at separate strong rooms in the centre with a three-tier security.

Later D Chandrasekaran, Tiruvaiyaru candidate and party’s district secretary, said the camera at the entrance of the college was not functioning properly. He also demanded that there should be a revolving camera at the spot.Meanwhile, the district administration said antennas were removed and the camera in the entrance was working but the direction had been altered to cover the entire entrance following complaint from candidates.