Chandrababu Naidu, EC indulge in war of words over faulty EVM
New Delhi, Apr 14 (IBNS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday protested over faulty voting machines in the national capital.
The protest resulted in a war of words between Naidu's Telegu Desum Party (TDP) and the Election Commission (EC).
According to EC official, a man accused of running with an EVM in 2010 was a member of the Naidu's delegation to meet the poll chief.
The party has, in turn, hit out at the Election Commission stating that instead of controlling the misdeeds, the EC is trying to "avoid addressing the situation."
In a letter to the TDP, the Election Commission asked that why an accused in a criminal case of theft in 2010 was part of the team to the poll body's office.
The letter stated that it was decided that the man, Hari Prasad Vemuru, would get a detailed briefing from the technical team of the commission.
"When the discussions came to the issue of EVMs and their functioning, one of the delegates repeatedly raised various technical issues regarding functioning of EVM and said that he has the requisite technical expertise in the field..." the Election Commission said in its letter available with media.
"However, when this technical person came it turned out that he was Hari Prasad who was involved in a criminal case regarding alleged theft of EVM machine in 2010 in which FIR was filed in... Mumbai," it added.
Meanwhile, Naidu has alleged that about 30 to 40 per cent of voting machines in his state Lok Sabha election.
He has demanded a re-poll in nearly 150 polling stations.
Besides, a lot of complaints were raised over missing or deleted names from across the country.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier alleged that votes had been deleted on an "unprecedented scale".
On Sunday, Kejriwal, Naidu and Congress leader Kapil Sibal are scheduled to meet in the afternoon to discuss the issue of transparency in the election.
In the first phase, 25 parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh went to polls.
The results will be declared on May 23.
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