Political activists create ruckus as buses with EVMs change route

Nagpur: The Sakoli constituency in Bhandara district was marred by another controversy as party workers, mostly from the Congress, created a ruckus after buses heading to the strong room with EVMs and VVPATs suddenly changed route on Monday night.

In the first incident that created a big controversy before the elections, supporters of Congress candidate Nana Patole and kin of BJP nominee Parinay Fuke had clashed over the latter distributing cash among voters.

Returning officer Manisha Dandge has issued a show cause notice to the manager of the bus depot. “I have issued a show cause notice to the depot manager as he did not take prior permission before changing the route. However, the route of the buses was changed a bit to avoid the muddy road. The depot manager was fearing that the buses might get stuck,” said Dandge.

Sources said that party workers, mostly from the Congress, spotted a sudden change in the route of the buses with EVMs and VVPATs. Party workers stopped the buses that were entering the depot, resulting in chaos and tension. Police rushed to the spot and started controlling the crowd.

“They were clearly trying to tamper with the EVMs. Why did they take the buses to the depot? Even the returning officer told us that she didn’t know about the change in route,” said Congress candidate Nana Patole.

“I did not know about the change in route that is why I issued the show cause notice to the depot manager. Further action will be taken in the coming days. However, nobody came out of the buses nor did anyone enter them. I rushed to the spot and immediately sent the buses to the strong room,” added Dandge.

Senior PI of Sakoli police station Bandopant Bansode said, “We brought the situation under control and also verified if anything fishy took place. Even the RO verified facts before the buses were sent to the strong room.”