Chennai, May 11 (IANS) Alleging that data entry operators had facilitated union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's victory in the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections, AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa Tuesday said counting agents should be present when data was being fed into computers.

 
 The former Tamil Nadu chief minister wrote to Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, two days before votes for the crucial assembly election would be counted Friday.
 
 “During the counting of votes for the Sivaganga Parliamentary Constituency, the votes polled in favour of the AIADMK Candidate Mr. R.S. Raja Kannappan were entered in favour of the Congress Candidate Mr. P. Chidambaram and the votes polled in favour of the Congress Candidate Mr. P. Chidambaram were entered in favour of Raja Kannappan,” she said in her letter.
 
 “It is pertinent to state that the votes that were physically entered by the Counting Agents/Counting Officers of Mr. Raja Kannappan were deliberately changed by the Data Entry Operators at the time of making entries in Form 20,” noted the letter dated May 11.
 
 She said that the blatant irregularities were committed by the data entry operators at the behest of Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK government and no action was taken against the operators who indulged in such grave offences.
 
 “The Election Petition challenging the election of Mr. P. Chidamabaram is pending before the Madras High Court wherein these records have been filed,” the letter, a copy of which was circulated in journalists, said.
 
 The AIADMK leader also requested the Election Commission to appoint data entry operators of integrity and after verifying their credentials.
 
 “I also request the Election Commission to permit one Counting Agent to be present at the time when the votes counted are entered in Form 20 to monitor whether correct entries are made by the Data Entry Operators with regard to the votes counted.”
 
 She said the Election Commission should  declare the results of assembly constituencies only after returning officers and the observors ensure that the votes recorded by them and the entries made by the data entry operators tally with each other.