Kairana, Noorpur vote amid faulty EVM complaints
Voting was held for 4 Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats across the country; Reports of malfunctioning of EVMs poured in from Maharashtra too
KAIRANA/LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: Amid complaints of “large scale” failure of EVMs and VVPATs, 54.17 per cent polling was recorded in Kairana Lok Sabha constituency, while 61 per cent votes were cast for the Noorpur assembly seat where by-polls were held on Monday.
Reports of malfunctioning of EVMs also poured in from Maharashtra. Spread over 10 states, voting was held for four Lok Sabha and 10 assembly seats, the outcome of which is expected to set the tone for the 2019 general elections, with opposition parties trying to come together to take on the ruling BJP. The votes will be counted on May 31.
The Election Commission (EC) has meanwhile, taken serious view of the faults in the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) during the by-polls and sought reports from chief electoral officer (CEO) L Venkateshwar Lu as well as the returning officers of Kairana and Noorpur seats.
After examining the reports, the EC may order re-poll on the booths on which polling was disrupted due to malfunctioning of VVPATs.
The Kairana by-poll was necessitated by the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh in February. His daughter Mriganka Singh is the BJP candidate, who is pitted against Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Tabassum Hasan, supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party and she also claims the backing of Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Noorpur by-election, too, was held following the death of sitting MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan of the BJP. His wife, Avani Singh, is the BJP candidate while the SP has fielded Naeemul Hasan.
Tabassum wrote a letter to the EC alleging that there were “con- tinuous complaints” of EVMs and VVPAT machines not working in most polling booths. VVPATs are paper-trail machines that allow a voter to check if the vote has been cast correctly.
“Most of the complaints of technical glitches are coming from Dalit- and Muslim-dominated areas. BJP leaders are adopting every tactic to stop my victory but people will foil their plans. Voters are being denied their rights but nobody is listening to our complaints,” said Hasan, who listed places where more than 150 EVMs allegedly malfunctioned.
Devendra Singh, BJP leader in charge of Kairana by-election, rejected the allegations. “The allegation of opposition parties that BJP is tampering EVMs is baseless. It seems to be a technical problem,” said Singh.
He claimed that EVMs at more than a 100 booths in places dominated by BJP supporters failed. “The party has lodged a complaint with the ECI as well as the state election commission,” Singh said.
Kunwar Bahadur Singh, additional district magistrate of Shamli, said VVPAT machines attached to EVMs developed snags because of heat. “In many booths, polling staff placed the machines near windows exposing them to the sun. Faulty machines were replaced,” he said. SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said 140 EVMs were tampered with in Noorpur. “The BJP wants to avenge its defeat in the earlier bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phoolpur anyhow and win the ongoing polls,” he said.
RLD spokesperson Sunil Rohta blamed the BJP for the EVM failures. “It seems to be an attempt to keep voting percentage low in Muslim, Dalit and Jatdominated areas where people are rallying behind Tabassum Hasan,” he said.
BJP MLA Kapil Deo Agarwal rejected the allegations of opposition parties. “BJP candidate Mriganka Singh will win the election with a good margin,” he said.
“Receiving reports of problems in EVMs in the bye-elections but still voters should go to cast votes,” SP chief Akhilesh
IN MAHARASHTRA, WHERE TWO LOK SABHA AND ONE ASSEMBLY SEAT WENT TO THE POLLS, THE SHIV SENA AND NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY (NCP) COMPLAINED ABOUT EVMS.
Yadav tweeted during the day.
In Maharashtra, where two Lok Sabha and one assembly seat went to the polls, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) complained about EVMS. NCP leader Praful Patel claimed almost 25% machines malfunctioned in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat, while Sena leader Sanjay Raut said those in power were contesting elections keeping the “key and remote of EVMs in their hands”.
BJP’s Palghar Lok Sabha candidate Rajendra Gavit demanded the polling time be extended following EVM glitches.