Political parties in Tamil Nadu have raised the alarm after discovering that the CCTVs in the strong rooms where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were located malfunctioned for nearly thirty minutes. The incident has sparked apprehension among political parties, particularly after allegations of potential EVM tampering.
In the Nilgiris constituency, located at the Government Polytechnic College in Ooty, CCTV cameras in the strong room reportedly ceased functioning for several minutes, prompting concerns over security breaches. District Collector and Returning Officer M Aruna clarified that the outage was due to technical glitches, specifically a short circuit caused by overheating and a lack of ventilation. The incident occurred for 26 minutes, from 6:17 pm to 6:43 pm, exacerbated by the summer weather conditions prevalent in the hill station.
Similarly, in the Erode district, one of the 220 CCTV cameras in the strong rooms at IRTT Engineering College at Sithode encountered a technical glitch, resulting in a loss of video signal. Another camera also experienced a similar problem. District Collector and Election Officer Rajagopal Sunkara attributed the issue to a disconnected wire connecting the CCTV camera to the monitor, which has since been rectified, allowing the camera to resume recording.
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Union Minister and BJP candidate for the Nilgiris constituency, L Murugan, emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety of strong rooms with the latest technologies. Murugan called on the Election Commission to monitor the strong rooms round the clock and to address any issues promptly, without leaving room for doubts or suspicions.
TTV Dhinakaran, leader of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and an ally of the NDA, has called upon the Election Commission of India (ECI) to prioritise security measures at strong rooms and vote counting centres until the election results are declared.
Dhinakaran’s call for enhanced security comes in the wake of troubling incidents, including a recent case where a former employee attempted to trespass into a counting centre at Kammavar Sangam College of Engineering in Theni. Additionally, concerns have been raised over CCTV malfunctioning at strong rooms in the Nilgiris and Erode Parliamentary constituencies.
Responding to these incidents, the DMK has turned paranoid and called for a ban on flying drones in and around areas where EVMs and control units are stored. They have submitted a plea to the ECI seeking uninterrupted CCTV coverage in all strong rooms. DMK Rajya Sabha MP NR Elango emphasised the importance of ensuring the security of these facilities and demanded a declaration of no-fly zones for drones over areas housing EVMs.
Former Rajya Sabha MP RS Bharati highlighted the interruption of CCTV surveillance at the strong rooms in the Nilgiris Lok Sabha constituency on April 27. Bharati stressed the need for uninterrupted CCTV coverage and advocated for political parties to have access to monitor CCTV feeds at any time. He also called for the preservation of recorded video footage from the time the strong rooms were sealed until they were opened on counting day.
In response to the heightened concerns, representatives of major political parties have been maintaining a 24 x 7 alert watch outside strong rooms across the state. They have been instructed to remain vigilant and rotate shifts to ensure continuous monitoring. Furthermore, police personnel have been deployed to strengthen security measures in the strong rooms.
