AAP demands increased security at counting centre, cites 'plan to manipulate EVMs' as reason

New Delhi, May 20: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday asked the Election Commission to provide additional security at a counting centre in South Delhi, alleging that political opponents plan to manipulate EVMs ahead of the announcement of poll results on May 23.

The letter by AAP's South Delhi candidate and spokesperson Raghav Chadha said that "he has strong reasons to believe that the political adversaries will attempt to open the strong rooms and manipulate or replace the machines as a handful of such incidents have been seen in the past".

"Alarming as it may be, this would not be the first time that an attack on the electoral system may take place," he said in the letter to CEC Sunil Arora.

Chadha also sought the appointment of another independent observer by the EC. "We request that the CRPF security at Jijabai Institute where South Delhi's EVMs are housed be tightened. It is further requested that additional CRPF personnel may be deployed to keep watch over the strong rooms around the clocks," he said. He also sought strict enforcement of entry permissions.

"All unnecessary movement in and around premises should be strictly forbidden," he said in the letter.

PTI