'CCTVs Weren't...': Supriya Sule Demands Explanation Over 'Laxity' In EVM Storage, ECI Responds

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule on Monday alleged that the CCTV cameras at the strongroom where EVMs were stored for the Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, were not working for more than 40 minutes.

Sule, who is the NCPSP candidate from one of Maharashtra’s most high-profile seats Baramati, demanded an explanation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) about the condition of the CCTVs and called the episode ‘suspicious.’

In a long X post tagging ECI, Sule said that it was suspicious that CCTV cameras of the place where something as pertinent as EVMs are kept are not working for almost 45 minutes adding that the polling commission gave no satisfactory answers.

“After the polling of Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, the CCTV in Godown where the EVMs are kept was switched off for 45 minutes this morning. It is suspicious that the CCTV is switched off where a very important thing like EVM is kept. Also, this is a big laxity. No satisfactory answers were received when the election representatives contacted the concerned authorities and administration. Apart from this, the technician is also not available at the said place,” the post read.

“Also, our representatives are not allowed to inspect the EVM status. This is very serious. The Election Commission should immediately take notice of this and announce the reasons why the CCTV was closed. Apart from this, appropriate action should be taken against those responsible for the incident,” the translation of the post, originally curated in Marathi, further read.

Election Commission Responds to Sule’s Allegations

The election authorities, however, clarified that a cable of the cameras had to be removed for a short period during some electrical work on the premises in the morning.

The CCTVs were turned off between 10.30 am and 11.15 am at the Food Corporation of India’s godown, where the EVMs from the constituency are stored, said Laxmikant Khabiya, the election representative of Baramati candidate Supriya Sule.

“Election officials told us that the CCTVs will function round the clock. Our party representatives are deployed to keep a watch. On Monday, we received an alert that the CCTVs were turned off for nearly 45 minutes. We tried to raise the issue with the police. The administration has come up with a clarification, but we will submit an application to the returning officer of Baramati,” Khabiya said.

Meanwhile, Baramati returning officer Kavita Dwivedi said the party’s claim was investigated, and it was found that an electrician at the godown had removed a cable, which caused the display unit to be shut down. All cameras in the premises were functional, and the data was intact, she said.

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