Ahead of Gujarat Result, Hardik Alleges EVM Fraud in 17 Districts
Hardik Patel alleged that an Ahmedabad-based company had been recruited to hack 5,000 EVM machines.
Only a few hours before the Gujarat Assembly election results on Monday, 18 December, Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel has alleged Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tampered with in 17 districts of the state. In a series of tweets, even as repolling took place in six polling stations on Sunday, Patel accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of indulging in EVM hacking.
Patel alleged that an Ahmedabad-based company had been recruited to hack 5,000 EVM machines from the “source code”.
The locations he mentions in his tweets are:
- Visnagar
- Patan
- Radhanpur
- Tankara
- Unja
- Vav
- Jetpur
- Rajkot 68, 69, 70
- Lathi
- Babra
- Chhota Udaipur
- Savli
- Mangrol
- Morva Hadaf
- Nadod
- Rajpipla
- Dabhoi
He alleged that there had been an attempt to tamper with EVMs in Patel and tribal areas, especially.
“If ATMs can be hacked, why not EVMs?” Patel asserted in another tweet.
On Friday, 15 December, Patel had claimed that the BJP would win the election in Gujarat by way of EVM tampering, but would lose the Himachal Pradesh elections so it’s not suspicious.
Almost all exit polls have predicted more than 100 seats in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly for the BJP, giving the party a fifth consecutive term in the state. In Himachal Pradesh too, which went to polls on 9 November, exit polls have predicted that the BJP will unseat the incumbent Congress government led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
Speaking to ANI, Ahmedabad collector Avantika Singh said:
Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had earlier concurred with Patel’s allegations and said:
Incidentally, Congress’ Shehzad Poonawalla, who has recently been known to criticise newly appointed party president Rahul Gandhi, said on Twitter:
Votes in the two-phase Gujarat election and single-phase Himachal Pradesh elections will be counted on Monday, 18 December.
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