Rahul Was In EVM Enclosure During Voting Hours In Amethi

AMETHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was present on polling day in Amethi for the first time in 10 years and he seems to have violated the law by entering the voting compartment, the closeted area where the EVM machine is kept, during polling hours in at least three booths. These are Ashtabhuja Vidyalaya in Sahamau, Prathamik Vidyalaya Koora and Madhyamik Vidyalaya Phoola, all of them in the Tiloi assembly segment, between 9.15am and 10.24am.

TOI photographer V Sunil captured him peering over the EVM machines at two places during polling hours and emerging from the EVM enclosure at another. A senior Election Commission official told TOI in Delhi that during polling, only three people can access the voting compartment: the voter, presiding officer and polling officer.

In case a candidate gains access to the polling station, the presiding officer will be held responsible, said the official. The candidate can be acted against only if he enters the polling compartment while a voter is in the process of voting, and the offence here is violation of secrecy of voting, as provided in the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Rahul Gandhi was seen entering the polling area by others too. The Aam Aadmi Party complained on Wednesday about the violation of election rules by Rahul Gandhi. The party tweeted several pictures of Rahul in polling booths. A picture showing him looking at an EVM was accompanied with a tweet that asked, “Is the candidate allowed to go to the polling machine?”

(These TOI photographs show (left) Rahul Gandhi inspecting an EVM machine at Amethi's Madhyamik Vidyalaya Phoola in Tiloi assembly segment at 10.24am and (right) emerging after inspecting an EVM machine at Ashtabhuja Vidyalaya in Sahamau at 9.20am, both within polling hours)

Rahul reached a polling booth in Bhoaiya Kesariya Gram Sabha in Bhadarpur Block of Amethi at 8.15am with his aide Kaushal Vidyarthi and talked to a voter. At 9.20am he was seen emerging from the enclosed area after inspecting an EVM machine at Ashtabhuja Vidyalaya in Sahamau. At 10.24am he inspected an EVM machine at polling booth number 137-Amethi at the Madhyamik Vidyalaya Phoola in Tiloi assembly segment.

The EC official in Delhi said that a candidate can enter the polling booth during polling hours and interact with the voters, but cannot canvass for votes during such an interaction. Prior to polling, a mock-poll is held at the polling station. A candidate or his agent can enter the voting compartment at this stage to check if the EVM is functioning properly.

Clearly, Rahul Gandhi was not present during the mock-poll hours – between 5am and 7am – as he reached the Furstaganj air strip at 7.30am. While the presiding officer would have to explain Rahul’s presence at the EVM enclosure during polling hours, the penalty against the candidate for violating the law is not clear.

(With inputs from Bharti Jain in Delhi)