In a bizarre development, the CCTV in an EVM strongroom for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, allegedly went blank for some 45 minutes, raising howls of protest from the Opposition Nationalist Congress Party (SP), here on Monday.
The elections for the prestigious Baramati seat were held on May 7 in the third phase of polling along with 10 other constituencies, after which all the EVMs from across the constituency were shifted to the secure strongroom till the counting of votes scheduled on June 4.
It was the NCP (SP) worker who first noticed the purported breakdown of the CCTV - long considered a 'neutral third-party eye' - this morning in the EVMs warehouse.
Suspecting something amiss, he quickly raised a hue and cry and even complained to the local concerned officials and the party higher-ups on the matter.
NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, who is in the race for the Baramati seat opposite her sister-in-law, Sunetra A. Pawar, wife of Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar, has cried foul at the latest development.
"It is highly suspicious that the CCTV is switched off where a very important device like the EVMs are kept. This is big laxity on the part of the authorities," she fumed on social media, posting a purported video of the incident.
She pointed out that when her election representatives brought the matter to the notice of the concerned authorities and the administration, "they did not get any satisfactory reply."
"Besides, there was no technician available at the place, our representatives were not allowed to inspect the EVM's status. This is very serious and suspicious," said Ms Sule, daughter of NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar.
Ms Sule demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should immediately take notice of this and reveal the reasons why the CCTVs were shut down and take appropriate action against those responsible for the lapse.
There has been no reaction to the development from Sunetra A Pawar's side so far on the accusations today - a week after the polls which turned into a fight for supremacy between the Pawar clan's famous uncle-nephew duo.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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