Hyderabad : CLP Leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Saturday demanded the election commission to clarify the doubts raised by the people of the state over EVM tampering issue. He wanted to know from the election commission as to why it had opened the EVMs despite the fact that there was a case pending against the same. He said that such acts of the election commission officials were giving credence to their doubts.
He demanded the suspension of Vikarabad district collector for opening 120 EVMs on Friday. He made these remarks while addressing a press conference along with other party leaders like Marri Shashidhar Reddy and Former minister Gaddam Prasad Kumar who has contested the elections from Vikarabad Assembly constituency in the recent elections. Bhatti also demanded the election commission to order for a detailed inquiry on the issue while noting that they would also lodge a complaint on the issue to the election commission on behalf of the party.
Gaddam Prasad Kumar has said that all the poll surveys hinted at his victory from the Vikarabad Assembly seat and claimed that he had lost the elections due to the EVM tampering . He said that he had filed a petition in the election commission. He demanded the election commission to reveal the reasons for opening the 120 EVMs by the district collector and claimed that the collector told him that he would talk to the election commission on the issue, when he cornered the collector on the issue. He also demanded the immediate removal of the collector. He said that he had left his entire family to fight the elections and claimed he always remained with the people of the constituency.
Shashidhar Reddy said that Prasad had lodged the complaint with the officials of the election commission immediately on the following day of the completion of the polling and added that it was against the rules to open the EVMs till the pending cases against them were disposed off by the court. Noting that the officials had suspended those who had issued voter ID card to the former CEC OP Rawat, he demanded the state government to suspend the collector.(NSS)