Months after several losing Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates alleged irregularities in the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Pune district election officer has ordered inspection and verification of electronic voting machines (EVMs) of 27 polling stations in the Hadapsar constituency on an application of NCP(SP) candidate Prashant Jagtap from July 25 to August 2. Jagtap was defeated by sitting NCP legislator Chetan Tupe by 7,122 votes.
Jagtap has deposited a fee of Rs 12.74 lakh to the district election officer or collector for the EVMs’ verification in 27 of the constituency’s booths, where he believes he should have gained an upper hand.
The checking and verification of the 27 EVMs, which will also involve mock polls, will be done at the Bhosari godown in the district, where the voting machines are stored in a strong room. The entire process will be carried out as per the Election Commission (EC)’s standard operating procedure (SOP).
Each EVM comprising a control unit and a VVPAT (voter verified paper audit trail) machine with 1,400 votes would be checked, official sources said. Two EVMs would be verified on July 25, followed by the checking of four voting machines each day for the next six days, with the remaining one machine to be verified on August 2.
According to the deputy district election officer and deputy collector, Meenal Kalaskar, 27 EVMs’ data will be verified, which were registered during the counting of votes in November 2024, in the presence of the candidate’s representatives. “The data will be erased and a mock poll for each EVM consisting of a control unit and a VVPAT will be conducted to further verify the operation of the machine,” Kalaskar said, adding that a final report will be submitted to the EC for any further action.
Jagtap said the checking and verification of EVMs would “expose” alleged electoral malpractices due to which, he claimed, he lost the polls in Hadapsar to his NCP rival. He said he would seek re-election once it is proved that the EVMs had “discrepancies” during the polls.
While the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) is an ally of the MVA, the NCP, headed by Ajit Pawar, is a key constituent of the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition.
Chetan Tupe, however, rejected Jagtap’s allegations, saying that “The defeated candidate will achieve nothing out of this exercise. It is a mere mock poll. It has been proved time and again that EVMs are accurate. The defeated candidate has raised doubts about EVMs, so it is between Jagtap and Election Commission.”
He also said, “I have been elected and declared a legislator constitutionally. I have nothing to worry about. There is no question of any re-election.”
The mock drill of each EVM is done before the start of voting and only verified machines are used in actual polling, Tupe said, pointing out that the verification of five EVMs of each Assembly constituency had also been done after the counting of votes, in which votes polled are matched with the VVPAT slips. “Both times, there were no problems in EVMs. It will be the same now,” he said, adding Jagtap should accept his defeat.
The incumbent Mahayuti, which includes the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena besides the NCP (SP), swept the Assembly polls, winning 235 of the total 288 seats as against the MVA’s 50, with the latter comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP.
However, barely five months earlier, in June 2024, the MVA had won 30 of the total 48 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state as against the Mahayuti’s 17.
So, in the wake of the Assembly poll results, the MVA leaders alleged that manipulated EVMs and rigged polls caused their debacle, with some of their losing candidates challenging it before the state election authorities too.
The Pune administration’s July 25-August 2 exercise will also involve the district’s Khadakwasla Assembly constituency. The losing NCP(SP) candidate in Khadakwasla, Sachin Dodke, has sought the inspection and verification of only two EVMs though. He was defeated by BJP candidate Bhimrao Tapkir by 52,000 votes, who bagged the seat for the fourth consecutive time.
Significantly, an NCP(SP) candidate, Uttamrao Jankar, also alleged tampering of EVMs despite winning his election from the Malshiras Assembly seat in Solapur district against the BJP candidate by over 13,000 votes. He extended his support to a mock poll with ballot papers proposed by the people of Markadwadi village in his constituency to “verify” the Assembly poll results.
However, the Markadwadi villagers’ proposed ballot paper exercise on December 3 last year was called off after police warned of action citing prohibitory orders issued by the district administration. “We will take up this issue with the EC and judiciary, we will not stop until we get justice,” Jankar had then said.