Polling agents not allowed to check EVMs, alleges Patole

Congress candidate from Nagpur, Nana Patole, who is trailing behind Union minister and BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari, Thursday alleged that the polling agents were not allowed to check the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

As per the latest trends, Gadkari is leading by 1,01,132 votes over Patole.

As the counting of votes is in progress, Patole visited the counting centre in Kalamna Yard here and met Collector and Returning Officer Ashwin Mudgal.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Patole said the returning officer should give information about the number of VVPAT slips and the votes counted in the EVMs.

"Some discrepancies were found and we sought the right to check the machines...Gadkari is getting identical votes of 559-559 from the booths belonging to the Nagpur East (Assembly) constituency. Usually, it is not possible that the voting count is same in every booth. This indicates that there are problems in the machines," he said.

"We have the right to check the EVMs. But we are not allowed to check them," he said.

Patole said he has given a written objection to the returning officer about this.