Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: Ahmedabad collector calls Hardik Patel's claims of EVM tampering 'baseless'

Pic courtesy: @HardikPatel_

Bhopal: Ahmedabad collector Avantika Singh on Sunday rubbished all allegations made by Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel that 140 engineers were hired to tamper 5000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)s.

She added that it doesn't call for any clarification as they were "baseless".

"These are baseless allegations. I don't think any clarification is needed. Even if any clarification is to be issued, it will be issued by the Election Commission," she added, as per ANI.

Patel on Sunday said on Twitter that if a human body, made by God be tampered with, then why not an EVM, which is made by humans.

He also alleged that there had been attempts to hack EVMs using its "source code" in the Patidar-dominated and tribal areas of the state.

विसनगर,पाटन,राधनपुर,टँकारा,ऊँजा,वाव,जेतपुर,राजकोट-६८,६९,७०,लाठी-बाबरा,छोटाउदेपुर,संतरामपुर,साँवली,मांगरोल,मोरवाहड़फ,नादोद,राजपीपला,डभोई और ख़ास करके पटेल और आदिवासी इलाक़े की विधानसभा क्षेत्र में EVM सोर्स कोर्ड से हेकिंग करने का प्रयास हुवा हैं। — Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) December 17, 2017

मेरी बातों पर सिर्फ़ हँसी आएगी लेकिन विचार कोई नहीं करेगा
भगवान के द्वारा बनाए गई हमारे शरीर में छेड़छाड़ हो सकती है तो मानव के द्वारा बनाई गई EVM मशीन में क्यों छेड़छाड़ नहीं हो सकती !! ATM हेक हो सकते है तो EVM क्यूँ नहीं !!! — Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) December 17, 2017

Patel had also claimed in a tweet yesterday that 150 software engineers of an Ahmedabad-based company were preparing to hack 5,000 EVMs. 

विसनगर,पाटन,राधनपुर,टँकारा,ऊँजा,वाव,जेतपुर,राजकोट-६८,६९,७०,लाठी-बाबरा,छोटाउदेपुर,संतरामपुर,साँवली,मांगरोल,मोरवाहड़फ,नादोद,राजपीपला,डभोई और ख़ास करके पटेल और आदिवासी इलाक़े की विधानसभा क्षेत्र में EVM सोर्स कोर्ड से हेकिंग करने का प्रयास हुवा हैं।

— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) December 17, 2017

Patel's statement comes after the apex court dismissed the Congress' plea seeking directions to the Election Commission (EC) to count and cross verify at least 25 percent of VVPAT with votes cast with EVM.

On December 15, the apex court had said it found no merit in Congress' plea and asked that the Gujarat Congress could approach it through filing a writ petition for electoral reforms.

It further maintained that electoral process in a democracy was of utmost importance and the SC cannot interfere only to allay apprehension of a party.

Counting of votes will be held on Monday for the Gujarat Assembly polls, considered a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state and a litmus test for new Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

While the BJP is seeking a sixth straight term in office, the Congress is aiming to stage a comeback in power after being in the opposition for over two decades.

(With Agency inputs)