MP Election: Faulty EVMS, VVPATs reported; Cong alleges defective machines in areas favouring party

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh took to Twitter to allege that faulty EVMs are reported from the polling booths which are in the favour of Congress party.

Representational Image: ANI

New Delhi: Voting in the initial hours of the crucial Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections witnessed multiple instances of malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), with Congress leaders alleging faults only in the areas where the party has strong possibilities. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh took to Twitter to allege that faulty EVMs are reported from the polling booths which are in the favour of Congress party. He said that the polling agents of Congress should ensure to note the number on the faulty EVMs and also on the replacements. He also asked the polling agents of the party to check the replacing machines by casting 50 to 100 votes before beginning of actual voting. So far 7-8 faulty EVMS have been reported, which created temporary hindrances in a smooth polling in the state. Complaints regarding malfunctioning of EVMS have been reported in many booths of Chhatarpur district. In Ujjain also 2 EVMs were reported faulty which have now been replaced. In Alirajpur, total 11 VVPAT machines have been replaced and in Burhanpur 5 VVPAT and 2 EVMs have been replaced. Voting is underway in all these places. In Mohana booth number 55, the EVM has stopped working and no voter has been able to cast vote since morning. In Bhopal Central region, 2  EVMs were reported to be faulty, following which a team of the Election Commission has been sent to replace machines.

कई ऐंसे मत दान केंद्रों पर जो कॉंग्रेस के पक्ष के हैं ईवीएम ख़राब होने के समाचार आ रहे हैं। कॉंग्रेस के पोलिंग एजेन्ट्स को दो बातों का ध्यान रखना चाहिये।

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) November 28, 2018

१- जो मशीन ख़राब होती है और जो उसके स्थान पर बदली जाती है उनके नम्बर ज़रूर नोट कर लें २- जो नयी मशीन आती है उसे वोटिंग चालू करने के पूर्व ५०-१०० वोट डाल कर चेक ज़रूर करें।

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) November 28, 2018

Adding to the faulty machines, campaign material was also seized from a person said to be a BJP polling agent from a booth in Saint Mary's, Bhopal, as it was within 200 meters of a polling booth. The police have arrested one person with regards to the case. Amid tight security, Madhya Pradesh is voting for a new assembly today. The voting is underway at 65,341 polling booths, which have been set up for the single-phase elections to 230 seats of the state Assembly.