Voluntary teams of contesting candidates camp near EVM strong rooms to monitor security

Rajouri, Oct 6: Unprecedented scenes are unfolding near the EVM strong rooms in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, where various contesting candidates and their supporters from non-BJP fronts are camping day and night to keep an eye on the strong rooms. These voluntary vigilantes are calling this an effort to protect the public mandate, with some expressing concerns about potential attempts to manipulate the results stored in the EVMs.

Voting in all five assembly constituencies of Rajouri district was held on September 25 during the second phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The EVMs for these constituencies were initially moved to the respective Returning Officer’s (RO) office and then transferred to strong rooms established at the district headquarters. The strong rooms are located in the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Rajouri, near Gujjar Mandi.

Meanwhile, unusual scenes are being witnessed in the district, where special squads of volunteers from non-BJP candidates across different assembly constituencies are acting as vigilantes, monitoring the strong rooms, which are already under a three-tier security cover involving the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and J&K Police. Guidelines from the Election Commission of India allow contesting candidates and their designated workers to camp at identified locations near EVM strong rooms to monitor them. While civilian vigilantes are rarely seen, this has become a common occurrence in Rajouri.

In front of the EVM strong room at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School, these civilian monitors, including contesting candidates and their workers, are observed sitting and watching all entry and exit points. Similar scenes are noted at the PWD Dak Bungalow in Rajouri, where candidates and their workers are seen in front of CCTV screens, monitoring the strong rooms.

Javed Iqbal Choudhary, the Congress-NC alliance candidate from the Budhal assembly segment of Rajouri, stated that their workers are stationed not only in front of the EVM strong room and the CCTV feed room at the Dak Bungalow but also around all four sides of the strong rooms, ensuring that every window is within their view.

“We have some apprehensions, and we want to protect the public mandate sealed in the EVM strong rooms,” said Javed Iqbal, emphasizing that their sole aim is to safeguard the public’s mandate stored in the EVMs. “More than ten teams of our workers are stationed at all sides of the EVM strong rooms, maintaining day-and-night manual surveillance,” he added. “Our dedicated volunteers are sitting on the roads, standing on rooftops around the strong room, and conducting patrols day and night.”

He also expressed gratitude toward the district election authorities, led by the District Election Officer (DEO), for their cooperation in ensuring a level playing field. “However, we have some concerns about government quarters potentially tampering with the public mandate,” he stated.

Rohit Kohli, Chief Election Agent for the NC-Congress alliance candidate from the Nowshera assembly constituency, emphasized that it is their duty to protect the public’s faith and mandate. Kohli is also camping in Rajouri to monitor the EVM strong room. “Nowshera is fifty kilometers away from Rajouri, but our teams rotate three times a day, and our workers travel between Nowshera and Rajouri to perform their duties like soldiers, protecting the mandate sealed in the EVMs stored in the strong rooms,” Rohit Kohli said.

It’s worth noting that some contesting candidates, including Javed Iqbal Choudhary from Budhal and Surinder Choudhary from Nowshera, raised concerns about the removal of police cover from the EVM strong rooms three days ago. The district administration labeled this as a rumor, clarifying that only the armed police accommodations were moved to an adjacent building due to space constraints. These candidates later visited the strong rooms while the DEO of Rajouri conducted multiple inspections in the EVM strong rooms over the past three days, with the administration asserting that all necessary arrangements have been made in accordance with ECI guidelines.