Kairana sees over 54% turnout, EVM glitches
UP TROUBLE Skirmishes reported between supporters of RLD, BJP candidates
KAIRANA: Barring a few incidents of violence, voting in the Kairana Lok Sabha seat remained peaceful on Monday.
Additional superintendent of police (ASP), Shamli, Shlok Kumar said police had to use force on residents of Bhura village in Kairana when they damaged vehicles and pelted polling staff with stones after the officials stopped a woman who was trying to cast her vote without showing her identity proof. “A poll official was injured and two people were taken into custody. The situation is under control and polling resumed peacefully,” he said.
According to an Election Commission (EC) official, the bypoll saw a turnout of 54.17%. The village is Gujjar-dominated, with over 4,000 voters who are predominantly supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Police said skirmishes were also reported between supporters of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Tabassum Hasan and BJP’S Mriganka Singh.
However, the biggest concern was the alleged technical glitches in EVMS. Reports of malfunctioning of EVMS started pouring in from Muslim-dominated Nakud, Gangoh and Kairana constituencies where voters demanded that faulty machines be replaced.
The issue resulted in a war of words between the leaders of ruling and opposition parties who lodged complaints with the poll panel.
Uttar Pradesh sugarcane minister and MLA Suresh Rana and his wife Neeta Rana cast their votes in Thanabhawan. Rana said non-payment of sugarcane dues was a major issue in the state when the BJP government came to power. “We took it as a challenge and ensured payment,” he said. However, majority of the residents of Titarsi village, barely 4km from Thanabhawan, refrained from exercising their franchise. Till 11 am, only 126 of 1,350 voters had exercised their franchise.
“Sugarcane dues are pending and nobody is paying heed to our
(Meghalaya)