Upping the ante on the “safety” and “security” of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) kept at various strong-rooms of  six Lok Sabha seats in the metropolis, Mumbai Congress chief Murli Deora on Tuesday apprehended that there was a “possibility of tampering” with EVMs ahead of the counting scheduled for May 23.

“I have received shocking feedback about the feedback about the tampering with EVM machines… Our Congress workers who are constantly looking after these (counting) centres from outside have informed us of some suspicious movements of few persons and few vehicles around these centres,” Deora said in a letter written to Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer.

Deora,  who himself is the Congress candidate from Mumbai south constituency,  urged the CEO to increase vigilance and security at all the counting centres to ensure that EVMs were not tampered with in any manner so that the exact results were reflected on counting day for free and fair outcome.

He exhorted the CEO to permit its volunteers to remain outside the counting centres and provide his party the password of the CCTV cameras  installed which they party volunteers could monitor along with the security personnel round-the-clock.

Deora, who forwarded a copy of his letter to CEO to the Mumbai Police Commissioner, urged the police chief to take necessary steps for ensuring safety and security of EVMs in the larger interest of democracy.     

Meanwhile, Congress’ Mumbai North-West candidate Sanjay Nirupam visited the counting centre in Goregaon east and personally monitored the safety and security status there. “The next two nights before the counting day are critical… All party workers and the people must keep vigil to find out whether the BJP activists are indulging in any mischief,” Nirupam said.

Demanding to know whether the ECI all votes would be recounted in case of a mismatch between the voting figures in the EVMs and the VVPATs,  Nirupam said,”In such an eventuality, all the VVPATs must be counted and the ECI must issue written orders to all Returning Officers, or it will create suspicions.”

Slamming the Exit poll projections,  Nirupam said: “It is clear that the biggest beneficiaries of the Exit Polls are stock market operators. SenSex is up by 2000 points in just two days. The SEBI must set up an inquiry to probe the links between the beneficiaries and the (exit) poll agencies, leading to the sudden flare-up in the markets.”