Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav earlier accused the ruling BJP of trying to steal votes, saying that a truck carrying EVMs was ‘intercepted’ in Varanasi while two others got away, calling the legitimacy of the polls into question.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of UP said that a ‘rumour was spread by people of some political party by stopping the vehicle and alleging that these EVMs were used in elections.’

‘According to the report sent by the District Election Officer (of Varanasi), it was found during the investigation that these EVMs were marked for training. To train the officials involved in counting duty, training has been organized for March 9 (Wednesday),’ it added.

The statement said the second training of the employees engaged in counting duty is on Wednesday and the ‘machines are always used in training for hands-on training.’

The UP office of the EC also said that all the EVMs used for voting are sealed inside the strongroom and secured in a three-tier security cordon of the central paramilitary forces, that all safety measures were taken.

These machines are completely isolated and secure and are continuously monitored by CCTVs throughout the day (24×7).

The District Election Officer of Varanasi has informed the representatives of various political parties regarding this, the statement said.

Amid the controversy over alleged violation of rules in the transportation of training electronic voting machines (EVM), the Election Commission (EC) has suspended Varanasi Additional District Magistrate NK Singh, according to an ANI report.

Counting of votes will take place on March 10.

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