Ahmedabad collector rubbishes Hardik Patel's claims of EVM tampering

Ahmedabad collector on Sunday rubbished all allegations made by Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel that 140 engineers were hired to tamper 5000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)s and said it doesn't call for any clarification as they are "baseless".

Ahmedabad collector, Avantika Singh said that if any clarification is to be issued than it will be issued by the Election Commission.

"These are baseless allegations. I don't think any clarification is needed. Even if any clarification is to be issued, it will be issued by the Election Commission," she added.

Hardik Patel has accused that 140 engineers were hired by a company to hack 5000 EVMs.

"A company in Ahmedabad has prepared to hack the source code of 5000 EVMs through 140 engineers," alleged Patel in a tweet on Saturday night.

Patel yesterday questioned Supreme Court's decision to reject Congress' plea, seeking cross-verification of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trails with votes cast with Electronic Voting Machines and asked why they were used in the Gujarat elections.

"Why are VVPATs used in the first place? It is used for smooth counting of votes wherever there is a fault. I do not understand Supreme Court's stand on the issue," the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener told ANI.

Patel's statement comes a day after the apex court dismissed the Congress' plea seeking directions to the Election Commission (EC) to count and cross verify at least 25 percent of VVPAT with votes cast with EVM.

On December 15, the apex court said it found no merit in Congress' plea and asked that the Gujarat Congress could approach it through filing a writ petition for electoral reforms.

It further maintained that electoral process in a democracy was of utmost importance and the Supreme Court cannot interfere only to allay apprehension of a party.

The voting for the two-phase Gujarat Assembly election ended on Thursday and counting of votes will be held on December 18.