Bypolls live updates: RLD leader flags faulty EVM issue in Kairana, Noorpur

The Kairana bypoll is being seen as a dress rehearsal for the coming electoral battle between a united Opposition and the BJP in 2019. Catch all the live updates here

BS Web Team  |  New Delhi 

elections
Voting for Kairana Lok Sabha by-poll underway; Visuals from a polling booth in Shamli. Photo: ANI

Voting started at 7 am on Monday for four Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats, including in Kairana in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. Not long after voting started, reports emerged of faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines from various constituencies.

Besides Kairana in Western Uttar Pradesh, by-elections are being held in the Bhandara-Gondiya and Palghar parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra and the Nagaland Lok Sabha seat.

The Kairana Lok Sabha constituency fell vacant after the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka Singh is now the party's candidate. She is fighting against Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD's) Tabassum Hasan, who is backed by a united Opposition, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

In the two Lok Sabha seats that are going to the bypolls in Maharashtra, all four major parties -- the Congress, BJP, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- are going all out as these bypolls are being considered as crucial in the run-up to the General elections in 2019.

The Shiv Sena has fielded late BJP MP Chintaman Wanaga's son Shriniwas Wanaga in Palghar, much to the dislike of the saffron party, which has in-turn nominated Congress deserter Rajendra Gavit.

Here are the top updates from the bypolls:

1) Tabassum Hasan writes to EC about faulty EVMs: RLD's Kairana candidate Tabassum Hasan on Monday wrote to the Election Commission (EC) over faulty EVMs and VVPATs in around 175 polling booths across Shamli, Kairana, and Noorpur.

Speaking to news agencies, Hasan said that "machines are being tampered everywhere", adding that "faulty machines haven't been replaced in Muslim and Dalit dominated areas".

"They (BJP) think they can win polls like this. That won't happen," she said.

2) Ten per cent voting until 9 am in Kairana bypolls: Until 9 am, 10.20 per cent voter turnout had been recorded in the Kairana Lok Sabha by-election.

3) Shahkot Assembly by-election sees faulty VVPATs replaced: One control unit at booth number 216 and three VVPAT machines at booth numbers 169, 170, and 222 were replaced during mock poll due to technical snags. Four VVPATs at booth numbers 27, 28, 132, and 45 were replaced during actual polling in Punjab.

4) Noorpur bypoll voter turnout: Six per cent voting recorded until 9 am in Noorpur Assembly by-election.

5) Reports of faulty, tampered EVMs emerge from Noorpur, Kairana: There are reports that in Noorpur, 140 EVMs were found to be faulty, which was because they had been tampered with. There were similar reports from Kairana. "They (BJP) want to avenge defeat in Phulpur and Gorakhpur, which is why they want to defeat us at any cost," Samajwadi Party's Rajendra Chaudhary told news agencies.

Reports had also emerged of voting being stalled at the Public Inter College in Kairana due to faulty VVPAT machines, an hour after voting had started on 7 am. Further, as many as 11 faulty EVMs were reported across polling booths in the Palghar and Bhandara Lok Sabha constituencies, news agency ANI reported.


The Kairana bypoll is seeing a joint Opposition going up against the ruling BJP. Due to the political importance of UP, the bypoll has virtually assumed the dimensions of a strategic battle in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Opposition is hoping that they could possibly repeat the success of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls by consolidating the anti-BJP vote.


BJP taking no chances in Kairana; ministers in campaign fray: After the drubbing in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls, the BJP is making extra efforts to try and retain the Kairana constituency. Apart from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, at least five others ministers campaigned in Kairana for the party candidate.

They include Dharam Singh Saini (minister of state for Ayush), Suresh Rana (Sugarcane Development), Anupama Jaiswal (Basic Education), Surya Pratap Shahi (Agriculture), and Laxmi Narayan (Religious Affairs, Culture, Minority Welfare, Muslim Waqf and Haj).

ALSO READ: UP bypoll: Slow polling in Kairana

A total of 51 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed for the Kairana bypolls. Out of which, 26 are stationed in the Shamli district and 25 in the Saharanpur district, an official told news agencies.

According to the official, state boundaries touching Kairana have also been sealed ahead of the bypoll.

8) AAP supports SP, RLD candidates in UP bypolls: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had announced its support for the RLD candidate in the Kairana parliamentary bypoll and the SP candidate in the Noorpur Assembly constituency in a bid to throw its weight behind a united Opposition.

"We have decided that there has to be solidarity among the Opposition parties on these two seats and hence this decision," party leader Sanjay Singh said.

The Congress and the NCP had earlier entered into an electoral alliance for bypolls to two Lok Sabha seats and one Assembly seat in Maharashtra. According to the understanding reached between the two parties, the NCP and the Congress would contest the Bhandara-Gondia and Palghar Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively.

The Congress would also contest the Palus-Kadegaon Assembly seat in the Sangli district of Western Maharashtra. Bypolls for all these three seats are being held today.

Further, the Congress and the NCP had also concluded a seat-sharing agreement for the May 21 Maharashtra Legislative Council biennial elections for half a dozen seats from local bodies constituencies, with both the parties deciding to contest three each.

10) Stage set for bypolls in 4 Lok Sabha, 10 Assembly seats for May 28: Four Lok Sabha seats and 10 Assembly seats are up for bypolls on May 28, including in UP's Kairana.

Parliamentary bypolls are also being held for Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra and to the Nagaland seat.

The seats where Assembly bypolls will be held on May 28 are Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), Shahkot (Punjab), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia and Silli (Jharkhand), Chengannur (Kerala), Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra), Ampati (Meghalaya), Tharali (Uttarakhand), and Maheshtala (West Bengal).

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With agency inputs
First Published: Mon, May 28 2018. 10:42 IST