The Evening Wrap: EC suspends poll officials after EVM found in vehicle linked to BJP candidate

The Hindu Newsletter - The biggest news stories from today [logo] The Evening Wrap Friday | 02 April, 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( EC suspends poll officials after EVM found in vehicle linked to BJP candidate The [Election Commission has suspended four polling personnel, including a presiding officer](, and decided to conduct re-poll at a booth in southern Assam’s Ratabari Assembly constituency after electronic voting machines (EVMs) were found in a vehicle linked to a BJP candidate contesting the adjoining Patharkandi seat. Both constituencies are in Karimganj district. Officials claimed that the polling personnel were unaware they had taken a lift in a vehicle registered in the name of Madhumita Paul, the wife of Patharkandi BJP candidate Krishnendu Paul. The team, whose car allegedly broken down near Nilambazar, 20 km short of district headquarters Karimganj, was returning from 149-Indira MV School under Ratabari constituency, about 70 km away. The seals of the EVMs were found intact, but the EC decided to conduct a re-poll at the polling station concerned. A report has also been sought from the election observer. “We have suspended presiding officer Sahab Uddin Talukdar and three others and asked them to explain why they violated the transport protocol. The team said they were unaware of who the vehicle belonged to until it was mobbed at Kanaishil, short of the district headquarters,” Karimganj’s Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer (DEO) Anbamuthan M.P. told The Hindu. According to a statement issued by the EC, the mob had damaged the vehicle by the time Anbamuthan and the district Superintendent of Police reached the spot. The police had to resort to “blank firing” to disperse the stone-pelting mob after the SP sustained minor injuries. The EC has sought a ground report on the incident that happened about 10 pm on Thursday, four hours after the second phase of polling across 39 of Assam’s 126 Assembly seats had concluded. [underlineimg] Priyanka Gandhi calls for re-evaluation of EVM usage [Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said that there should be a “serious re-evaluation”]( on the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by all national parties. Her comments on Twitter follow an incident on April 1 night in Assam where an EVM was found in the vehicle of Krishnendu Paul, BJP candidate from Patharkandi. [ Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi ] Vadra’s comments could restart the debate on the use of EVMs. In August 2018, at an all-party meeting convened by the Election Commission (EC), Opposition parties had demanded a return to the ballot paper system. The latest trigger was a video posted by the Editor of an Assamese channel which showed an EVM found in a BJP candidate’s car. “Every time there is an election, videos of private vehicles caught transporting EVMs show up. Unsurprisingly, they have the following things in common: 1. The vehicles usually belong to BJP candidates or their associates. 2. The videos are taken as one-off incidents and dismissed as aberrations. 3. The BJP uses its media machinery to accuse those who exposed the videos as sore losers,” Vadra claimed. “The fact is that too many such incidents are being reported and nothing is being done about them. The EC needs to start acting decisively on these complaints and a serious re-evaluation of the use of EVMs needs to be carried out by all national parties,” she added. In a press conference, addressing the EC, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked, “The Election (EC) Commission’s car broke down and a BJP candidate Krishnendu Paul arrived with his car. The EC was transporting the EVMs in his car. In all of Assam, you (EC) only found the BJP candidate’s car?” Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted, “Hightime ECI (Extinct Credibility of India) should be disbanded & BJP should fully take over all its functioning, instead of running the show from behind. In Bihar elections ECI itself rigged elections & results partnering with bureaucracy on behest of BJP & JDU. #EVMS.” [underlineimg] India has not imposed any export ban on Covid-19 vaccines: MEA [Asserting that India has not imposed any export ban on anti-coronavirus vaccines, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)]( on Friday said the country has taken the lead in sending vaccines abroad, with over 640 lakh doses supplied to more than 80 countries till now. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also said the Ministry’s ‘Vaccine Maitree’ initiative to supply vaccines abroad has been “very successful and very well liked” by our partners across the world. “As on date, under the ‘Vaccine Maitree’ initiative, we have supplied a total of about 644 lakh doses to the global community and of these, 104 lakh doses have been supplied as a grant, 357 lakh doses on a commercial basis, and 182 lakh doses through the COVAX initiative,” Bagchi said at an online media briefing. With regard to the demand for made-in-India vaccines, many countries across the world have been requesting for their supply, he said. “I don't have an exact number for what is the demand (for the vaccines) because it is a request based on the requirement of countries,” Bagchi said. The ‘Vaccine Maitree’ initiative has been extremely successful and very well liked by our partners across the world and “we are continuing to try to supply to the extent possible given our domestic requirements”, Bagchi said. Asked about reports that Nepal has approached India to procure 5 million more vaccine doses but has not got any response, he said India has taken the lead on sending vaccines abroad. “No country has shared with the world the number of vaccines that India has while vaccinating its own population. Till now, we have supplied vaccines to more than 80 countries across in the world and we have already stated that our external supplies would be done keeping in mind our domestic requirements,” the MEA spokesperson said. [underlineimg] Iran, world powers ready to welcome back U.S. to nuclear deal [Iran and the major powers in the agreement to keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons]( said on Friday they were ready to welcome the return of the United States to the deal. The chair of the group, including the European Union, China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran said that the participants “emphasised their commitment to preserve the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and discussed modalities to ensure the return to its full and effective implementation,” according to a statement after their virtual meeting. [This combined photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, shows Iranian diplomats attending a virtual talk on nuclear deal with representatives of world powers, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 2, 2021.] The group said they would resume further talks next week in Vienna on the 2015 agreement, “in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures.” The statement also said that the group’s coordinator “will also intensify separate contacts in Vienna” with all participants of the nuclear agreement and the United States. In Tehran, state television quoted Abbas Araghchi, Iran's nuclear negotiator in the Friday virtual meeting, as saying in the meeting that any “return by the U.S. to the nuclear deal does not require any negotiation and the path is quite clear.” “The US can return to the deal and stop breaching the law in the same way it withdrew from the deal and imposed illegal sanctions on Iran,” Araghchi was quoted as saying. Washington pulled out of the deal unilaterally in 2018 under President Donald Trump, but successor Joe Biden has indicated that the U.S. would be willing to rejoin. But there are complications. Iran has been steadily violating the restrictions of the deal, like the amount of enriched uranium it can stockpile and the purity to which it can enrich it. Tehran’s moves have been calculated to put pressure on the other nations in the deal — Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain — to do more to offset crippling sanctions reimposed under Trump. Iran has said that before it resumes compliance with the deal, the U.S. needs to return to its own obligations under the deal by dropping the sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that over the past two years, Iran has accumulated a lot of nuclear material and new capacities, and used the time for “honing their skills in these areas.” [underlineimg] Three militants killed in Pulwama encounter: Police [Three unidentified militants, including those who attacked a BJP leader in Srinagar on Thursday](, were killed in an encounter on Friday morning in south Kashmir’s Pulwama, a police spokesman said. “Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered. A search is going on in the area,” the spokesman said. The encounter between hiding militants and the security forces began in the morning. Earlier, a police official said: “Two to three militants are believed to be trapped. Exchange of fire was reported for several hours. So far no body has been retrieved from the encounter site.” The police said it asked the trapped militants to surrender “but the offer was rejected”. Internet service was snapped in Pulwama as a precautionary measure. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 1,23,24,070 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,64,902. India recorded the highest single-day rise in coronavirus cases in six months with 81,466 new infections in a span of 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The single-day rise in cases is the highest recorded since October 2, 2020. Registering a steady increase for the 23rd day in row, the active cases have increased to 6,14,696, comprising 5% of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 93.67%, the data stated. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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