A few days ago, the District Election Officer of Hyderabad tagged AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair in an X post informing him about its action against BJP candidate Madhavi Latha over alleged violations of electoral regulations. Now the “Likes” section of the official X handle of Telangana’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sparked outrage as the Telangana CEO had liked posts favouring the return of the ballot paper.
One of the posts like by the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer reads, “Yes ban EVMs and bring back Ballots. In recent Telangana state Assembly elections 100% EVMs tampering took place. BJP & TRS are totally dependent on EVM tampering in the next elections that is why they didn’t go to SC along with 23 political parties for counting of VVPATS.”
However, in response to said post, the Telangana CEO attached a link to a Facebook video telling “Why EVM’s better than Ballot Please refer to the video below to gather information on EVM and VVPAT.”
Another post liked by the Telangana Electoral Officer’s X handle said that Tories and the right-wing win elections through fear by making one hate the ‘minorities’.
“Remember, Tories & the right-wing win elections through fear: They make you fear economic collapse, despite making the economy work only for the 1%. They make you hate minorities by telling you they are the reason you’re poor. When actually, it’s Tory policy. Don’t fall for it,” the said post reads.
Some X users shared screenshots of posts in Arabic language liked by Telangana CEO’s official handle.
This @CEO_Telangana handle is definitely run by some hardcore Islamist who have no trust in current election system they are part of and at the same time they are biased politically @DEO_HYD @ECISVEEP kindly take note pic.twitter.com/KCs0Fnt0Wv
— Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch) May 16, 2024
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer issues clarification
In response to a post by an X user Ajit Datta, CEO Telangana “clarified” that the official handle had responded to a post against EVMs and shared an educative video on EVMs. It added that the Likes timeline of @CEO_Telangana had certain “irrelevant likes” which have now been removed. The CEO added that they are investigating as to why this happened.
1/2 @CEO_Telangana responded to the tweet against EVMs from @PorlaLingappa on 21.11.2023 with an educative tutorial on EVMs which details the security and administrative protocols which make EVMs tamperproof. Looking at ‘Likes’ timeline, we realised that there were
— Chief Electoral Officer Telangana (@CEO_Telangana) May 16, 2024
“@CEO_Telangana responded to the tweet against EVMs from @PorlaLingappa on 21.11.2023 with an educative tutorial on EVMS which details the security and administrative protocols which make EVMs tamperproof. Looking at ‘Likes’ timeline, we realised that there were certain irrelevant likes from the account which pertain to late 2019 to early 2020. They have been removed. We are investigating the cause behind this. @CEO_Telangana remains committed to conduct free and fair elections strictly in accordance with law,” @CEO_Telangana responded. The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s official handle earlier had liked over 400 posts. The count has now come down to 150.
2/2 certain irrelevant likes from the account which pertain to late 2019 to early 2020. They have been removed. We are investigating the cause behind this. @CEO_Telangana remains committed to conduct free and fair elections strictly in accordance with law.
— Chief Electoral Officer Telangana (@CEO_Telangana) May 16, 2024
This comes days after the District Election Officer of Hyderabad tagged Alt News cofounder Mohammed Zubair in a tweet informing him about its action against BJP candidate Madhavi Latha over alleged violations of electoral regulations.
“A case has been filed against Smt. Madhavi Latha, Contesting candidate at Malakpet Police Station under 171C, 186, and 505(1)(c) of the IPC, along with section 132 of the RP Act for violating electoral regulations,” the official X account of the District Election Officer of Hyderabad tweeted on 13 May 2024, tagging Mohammed Zubair, the official X accounts of Telangana CEO, and the ECI.
