Senior party leader from the state Ahmed Patel requested quick action.Ahmedabad: Senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia on Saturday complained of possible EVM tampering at three polling booths in a Muslim-dominated area of Porbandar claiming that some machines were found to be connecting to external devices via bluetooth.
The Election Commission said that based on the Congress leader's complaint, an inquiry had been initiated.
"We detected that the EVMs at three polling booths at Memanwada, a Muslim-dominated area, are connected to external devices through bluetooth. When the bluetooth of a mobile phone is turned on, a device named 'ECO 105' is shown as available," Modhwadia, the Congress candidate from Porbandar, said.
This clearly means that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with using the device via bluetooth, he alleged.
"The chips fitted in the EVMs appear to be programmable using bluetooth, and this raises the possibility of tampering. The voting system should be immune to such connectivity to external devices," he said.
Modhwadia said he had registered a complaint with the district election officer. The election officer visited the booth and saw the display, he added.
Chief election officer (CEO) B B Swain said an inquiry was ordered into the matter and the collector and the observer of the Election Commission (EC) were sent to the spot.
"We received a complaint regarding the connectivity of EVM through bluetooth. After discussing the matter with the Election Commission, we have sent the collector and an observer of the commission has been sent to the spot along with the senior-most engineer. An inquiry is being conducted in the presence of the complainant," Swain said.
The ruling BJP, however, said the complaint made by Modhwadia shows the opposition party's "search for an excuse" as it knows that it would bite dust in the election.
"Members of the Congress are saying there is a defect in the EVMs. The EC would respond to it. But we can say that the Congress is searching for an excuse even before the results are out, as it stares at a loss in the elections. They are trying to hide behind the EVMs," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
Ealier in the day, the Congress party has urged the Election Commission to look into the malfunctioning of EVMs in several polling booths in Surat, Porbandar and Jetpur.
Senior party leader from the state Ahmed Patel requested quick action. "There are reports of EVM malfunctioning in several polling stations. Request the Election Commission to take necessary action immediately," Patel said in a tweet.
The poll panel received several complaints about Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioning in Kosamba region of Valsad district, besides several in Saurashtra and Surat.
An EVM was also tampered with in Rajkot East constituency, a complaint to the EC said.
After casting his vote in Ankleshwar in Bharuch, Patel said that he voted for change, and urged the people of Gujarat to do the same.
"I have cast my vote today. I have voted for change. Urge all fellow Gujaratis to turn out in large numbers and bring around the change that the entire nation is waiting for," he said in another tweet.
Talking to reporters, Patel slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not fulfilling its promises made in previous polls.
"People from all social groups have gathered to vote because in three years, the BJP government has not done anything at the Center, nor have they done anything in Gujarat in the last 22 years.
"They did not fulfill any of the promises made in their manifestos of previous elections," Patel said.
The first phase of polling in the two-phase Gujarat assembly election is underway on Saturday. Polling, which began at 8am, will end at 5pm.
The second phase of polling is on December 14. Counting of votes, along with that of Himachal Pradesh, will be held on December 18.
