On Saturday, PM Modi continued his tirade against the Congress claiming that their generation shift hadn’t changed anything in the party. He also had a little time for humour as he mocked Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia who had thought that was a Bluetooth device was being used to hack EVMs.
On Saturday, PM Modi continued his tirade against the Congress claiming that their generation shift hadn’t changed anything in the party. He also mocked Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia who had raised questions about the EVMs connecting to a Bluetooth device.
He said: “BJP is fighting these elections on the issue of development. Congress is back to their old tricks. A generational shift has not brought in a new political culture for the party. They rely on their same divide and rule politics. With the Mantra of Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana, BJP Governments have taken Gujarat to new heights of progress. A society that is united and harmonious can progress well.”
He also stated Congress leaders mocked him when he said he would ensure electrification of villages in Gujarat, as he said: “When I first stated, my intent to ensure electrification of villages in Gujarat, the state Congress leaders mocked me. They said it can never happen, they also asked me- you have not headed a Panchayat how can you promise this. We proved them wrong, ensured villages get power.”
He also mocked Congress leaders who claimed yesterday that EVMs were hacked due to Bluetooth. He said, “There are some people in Delhi whose sole Mission is 'Parivar Bachao.' These are the same people who, in an hour of voting yesterday, started saying EVMs are hacked thanks to Bluetooth! Some logic this is.”
The Election Commission (EC) in Gujarat said that an inquiry found that the apprehension about possible EVM tampering through Bluetooth technology, raised by opposition Congress, was baseless.
The device which the complainant's mobile phone detected after putting on Bluetooth was not an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) but a mobile phone, carried by a polling agent, the commission said.
Earlier, as voting for 89 seats in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections was underway, senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia complained of possible EVM tampering at three polling booths in a Muslim-dominated area of Porbandar, a seat he is contesting.
Some EVMs were found to be connecting with external devices such as mobile phones through Bluetooth, he had claimed.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) B B Swain told reporters this evening that as per the report of an inquiry it ordered, the mobile phone of the complainant was detecting -- when its Bluetooth was activated -- another device identified as 'ECO 105'.
"ECO 105 was feared to be the EVM at the polling booth, giving rise to the fear of possible tampering through Bluetooth technology," Swain said.
The collector and observer were sent to the booths from where complaints were received, and the complainant was also called.
An inquiry was conducted in front of local media, and the report submitted by the District Election Officer (DEO) is that a polling agent was carrying a mobile phone of Intex company, bearing model number ECO 105, he said.
"A polling agent named Manoj Singrakhiya was carrying the mobile phone. He was in the close vicinity of the phone of the complainant....The complainant might have thought that 'EC' in ECO stands for Election Commission," Swain said.
An EVM is essentially like a calculator and cannot be connected via Bluetooth or WiFi.
With inputs from PTI
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