Vidisha, December 10: Out of the apprehension that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could tamper with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) kept inside strong rooms at a college in Vidisha, members of the Congress Party and private security guards deployed by them have taken it upon themselves to guard the strong room round the clock. After the elections were held on November 28 across the state, the EVMs were brought to Samrat Ashok Technological Institute (SATI) in Vidisha, and are now kept under the three-layered security provided by the administration after the elections.

Members of the Congress party stationed outside the strong room said they feared that members of the BJP may tamper with the machines. "The Election Commission of India (ECI) has given permission to candidates to secure (strong rooms) on their own. In connection with that, we have deployed our private security guards and even our party workers. We are apprehensive and have no trust over Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Although we trust officials, (we fear) they can also submit under pressure, so we have deployed our own security guards," Congress candidate from Vidisha, Shashank Bhargav, told ANI. Madhya Pradesh EVM Tampering Row: Election Commission Suspends 3 Officials for Negligence, Issues Show Cause Notice to 10 Others.

Another Congress worker, Rajkumar, added: "Vidisha is a very sensitive constituency and BJP can do anything here. We have been instructed to keep an eye on the whole thing so that BJP is not able to do anything illegal." On Sunday, a Congress delegation had registered a complaint with Madhya Pradesh Election Commission expressing concern over the security of strong rooms across the state EVMs are kept. The complaint was registered less than a week after senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal visited the Election Commission of India to highlight alleged faults in EVMs particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Nath, Sibal, and other leaders also demanded that EVMs be protected in a secure place and counting be done in an impartial and fair manner. Madhya Pradesh went to polls on November 28 in a single phase in 230 constituencies across the state. Results of the Assembly polls will be declared on December 11.

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