Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student-wing of the RSS, on Thursday won three out of four posts in the Delhi University Students’ Union amidst serious allegations of EVM tampering.
The saffron outfit won the posts of president, vice president and joint secretary as their candidates Ankiv Basoya, Shakti Singh and Jyoti Choudhary were declared winners. The Congress’ student wing NSUI bagged the post of secretary.
Thursday’s counting was marred with serious allegations of EVM fraud as a number of votes were found to have gone in favour of non-existent candidate. Journalist Uzair Hasan Rizvi of Hindustan Times tweeted, “One of the EVM used for #DUSUElection2018 Secretary seat polling was showing 400 votes on ballot no. 10, while the machine had only 8 candidates with number 9 slot being NOTA. Remember, the same EVMs will be used in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. #DUSU #DUSUresults.”
Similar allegations were made by other journalists covering the counting, forcing the Election Commission to issue a bizarre clarification. In its clarification, the EC astonishingly said that the DU authorities had obtained the voting machines privately, raising serious doubts on the fairness of the DU elections.
The statement issued by Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi said, “With reference to captions being shown in some news channels regarding the use of EVMs in the elections of DUSU, I am directed to inform that the EVMs in question are not of Election Commission as no such EVMs have been allotted/issued to DU by this office,” the Chief Electoral Officer said.”
Expressing her concern on the fairness of the DU elections, students activist Shehla Rashid wrote, “In a University election, the presence of 9 faulty EVMs is huge! It brings into question the legitimacy of the entire process. #DUSUElection2018 should be held again, this time on ballot paper or using VVPAT. How can one trust this process? #DUSU #DUSUPolls #EVMFraud.”
In a University election, the presence of 9 faulty EVMs is huge! It brings into question the legitimacy of the entire process. #DUSUElection2018 should be held again, this time on ballot paper or using VVPAT. How can one trust this process? #DUSU #DUSUPolls #EVMFraud
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 13, 2018
Earlier on Thursday, the counting had to be suspended for several hours as votes were found to be going to imaginary candidates.