AGARTALA, May 21 (TIWN): Leaders of 22 opposition parties have met the Election Commission of India (ECI) officials on Tuesday alleging tampering of voting machines and gave idea to how to clear all doubts raised by opposition saying, ‘In democracy nobody should have any doubt’. They demanded that if any discrepancy is found during VVPAT verification, 100 per cent counting of the paper slips of all polling stations in that assembly segment should be done and compared with the EVM results.“We raised these same issues in last one-and-a-half months. We asked Election Commission why have they not responded. Strangely, EC heard us for almost an hour and assured us they will meet us again tomorrow,” said senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi.Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu said the opposition parties have asked the EC to “respect the mandate” of the people and it “can’t be manipulated”. He asked, what is the problem to change the guidelines a little bit for everyone’s comfort.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee had also issued a statement on Tuesday on the EVM controversy saying that the onus of ensuring institutional integrity lies with the Election Commission of India

The Election Commission had “emphatically and unambiguously” clarified that the reports and allegations of EVM movement are “absolutely false, and factually incorrect”.

“All polled EVMs and VVPATs are brought under security cover to the designated strongrooms, which is sealed with double locks, in the presence of the candidates and in the presence of observers of the Election Commission. Each strongroom is guarded with round-the-clock security by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). Further, the candidates or their designated agents remain present at the strongroom for 24X7 vigil at all times,” the statement by the poll panel said.