Allegations of misconduct surfaced on Monday as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule accused authorities of wrongdoing following a 45-minute lapse in CCTV camera coverage at a godown storing EVMs from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra's Pune district.
Election officials, in response, clarified that the temporary shutdown occurred due to the removal of a camera cable during electrical maintenance on the premises earlier in the day.
During the period of 10:30 am and 11:15 am, the CCTVs at the Food Corporation of India's godown, the storage site for the constituency's EVMs, were allegedly deactivated.
Laxmikant Khabiya, the election representative of Baramati candidate Supriya Sule reported about this lapse in procedure.
"Election officials told us that the CCTVs will function round the clock. Our party representatives are deployed to keep a watch. On Monday, we received an alert that the CCTVs were turned off for nearly 45 minutes. We tried to raise the issue with the police. The administration has come up with a clarification, but we will submit an application to the returning officer of Baramati," Khabiya said.
Baramati candidate Supriya Sule in a post on X wrote,"After the polling of Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency, the CCTV in Godawan where the EVMs are kept was switched off for 45 minutes this morning. It is suspicious that the CCTV is switched off where a very important thing like EVM is kept. Also, this is a big laxity."
She added, "When the election representatives contacted the concerned authorities and administration, no satisfactory answers were received. Apart from this, technician is also not available at the said place. Also our representatives are not allowed to inspect the EVM status. This is very serious. The Election Commission should immediately take notice of this and announce the reasons why the CCTV was closed. Apart from this, appropriate action should be taken against those responsible for the incident."
In response to the allegations, Baramati's returning officer, Kavita Dwivedi, stated that an investigation into the party's claim had been conducted.
It was discovered that an electrician at the godown had removed a cable, resulting in the temporary shutdown of the display unit.
Dwivedi reassured that all cameras within the premises remained operational, and the stored data remained intact.
In a post on 'X', Dwivedi said, "A three-tier security is in place, and EVMs are all duly sealed, and the seals are intact. The returning officer visits the strong room regularly. Apart from this, as per office order AROS and AAROs visit the strong room as per guidelines of the Election Commission of India. It is denied that there is any negligence in storing EVMs."
The data is intact, and there is no interruption in the CCTV footage, she said in the post.
All instructions regarding the backup as per protocols have been given to the agency and have been verified by viewing the CCTV footage.
"A couple of representatives of the complainant were also present when the display was functional and when it went off. Since the CCTVs are intact and the due protocols are followed there is no reason for panic," she stated.
Polling was held on May 7 in Baramati, where sitting MP Supriya Sule locked horns with her sister-in-law and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra.
