Mumbai, Jan 14 (IANS) The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Wednesday clarified that Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU) machines will be kept ready for use only if technical difficulties arise during counting of votes cast through Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) voting machines in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

The SEC said PADU will not be used as a standard procedure and would be utilised only in exceptional cases involving technical glitches.

The BEL voting machines being used for the BMC elections are ‘M3A’ models belonging to the Election Commission of India.

According to the SEC order, the counting of votes must primarily be done by connecting the Ballot Unit (BU) to the Control Unit (CU).

BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani also said PADU machines will be used only as a back-up.

“The PADU device should only be utilised in rare, exceptional cases where technical difficulties prevent standard counting,” the SEC said in a release.

A total of 140 PADU units have been made available for the BMC elections. If the need arises, PADU must be used in the presence of BEL technicians, it said.

The SEC had earlier issued directives to demonstrate the functioning of the PADU device to representatives of political parties.

Following the instructions, the BMC has already conducted practical demonstrations for the representatives to ensure transparency and understanding of the process.

The clarification from the SEC and the BMC Commissioner comes hours after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray raised concerns regarding the voting process.

He highlighted the introduction of PADU as a back-up device during vote counting if EVMs fail during the municipal elections and claimed that the machines were introduced without transparency, as political parties were not aware of them.

He alleged the SEC did not even inform the political parties about the device.

Raj Thackeray said neither the public nor political parties had been shown how the units function.

He claimed that even after formal inquiries, including a letter from Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, the State Election Commission failed to provide clarity.

“When EVMs are used, party representatives are called to verify the buttons. But this new machine hasn’t been shown to anyone. This is pure anarchy,” he said.

–IANS

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