EVMs connected to Bluetooth, WiFi in Gujarat polls? Here is Election Commission`s explanation

Congress had said they detected EVMs at three polling booths at Memanwada which were connected to external devices through Bluetooth.

PORBANDAR: During the first phase of polling in Gujarat, several complaints emerged of Bluetooth being connected to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). 

Senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia had complained that three EVMs were seen connected to Bluetooth devices and he sent the complaint to the ECI along with screenshots backing his complaint.

Responding to the allegations, the Election Commission had said they were looking into the complaints. A team of Election Commission visited a polling booth in Thakkar Plot in Porbandar to find out if there was some malfunctioning. Clarifying on the reports after his visit, EVM engineer S Anand said: "The name that you give to your Bluetooth device will be shown when it is paired to another device."

"There is no issue. At a few places where machines had problems that have been resolved, machines have been replaced wherever required. Polling is going on peacefully," Bhavnagar District Collector Harshad Patel said.

Modhvadia had said they detected EVMs at three polling booths at Memanwada are connected to external devices through Bluetooth. "When the bluetooth of a mobile phone is turned on, a device named 'ECO 105' is shown as available. This clearly means that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with using the device via bluetooth," he alleged.

"The chips fitted in the EVMs appear to be programmable using bluetooth, and this raises the possibility of tampering. The voting system should be immune to such connectivity to external devices," he said.

The ruling BJP, however, has maintained that the allegations by Congress show they are in "search for an excuse" as it knows that it would bite dust in the election.

"Members of the Congress are saying there is a defect in the EVMs. The EC would respond to it. But we can say that the Congress is searching for an excuse even before the results are out, as it stares at a loss in the elections. They are trying to hide behind the EVMs," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said. 

MoS PMO Jitendra Singh also said Congress is just preparing itself for a defeat. "Congress party has made it a practice to say EVM malfunctioned every time when they face defeat. Therefore, they are preparing ground before December 18 to blame their defeat on EVM," he said.