Palghar/Gondia/Kairana: A large number of complaints about malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were received in the by-elections for four Lok Sabha and ten Assembly seats, but the Election Commission dismissed them as “exaggerated,” claiming that the “severe heat conditions” had interfered with the machines. However, they were quickly replaced with the ones in reserve.
There was no denying the heat: in fact, in Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya, bedsheets, table-cloth and fans were used to protect the EVMs from the searing heat, harsh light and dust. “The sensors of these EVMs are extremely sensitive to heat, light and dust. We were alerted by the EC beforehand. We faced problems even during the first level checks carried out on these machines a few days ago,” an official said. Of the total 2,097 EVMs deployed in the two seats in Maharashtra, 156 machines malfunctioned.
Polling could not start at many places for 60 to 90 minutes, again putting a question mark on the credibility and integrity of the poll process. It was a replay in Kairana, where the BJP is pitted against a unified opposition. At booths where polling was disrupted for more than two hours due to malfunctioning, the EC could consider re-polling after going through the reports of district election officers, said UP’s chief electoral officer.
The EC, however, denied media reports of cancellation of polling in 35 booths in Bhandara-Gondia constituency where voting was temporarily suspended. Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel alleged that the malfunctioning EVMs had arrived from Surat. He wanted the election scrapped and demanded that there should be a re-poll with paper ballots.
The opposition parties wondered why there were so many complaints of malfunctioning when there were no such instances when the general elections were held. Anil Desai, Shiv Sena member of the Rajya Sabha, filed a complaint with the Palghar district collector. “Due to the malfunction many voters in tribal areas could not vote. How did this happen when extensive mock trials had been done?” demanded Desai.
Sanjay Raut, another RS member of the Sena, alleged that the BJP had manipulated the EVM machines, so that it could win the Palghar and Gondia seats. “Earlier, people used to capture booths. Today, they have the keys of the EVM machines in their hands,” said Raut. ‘‘This shows how ill prepared EC and district agencies are for a by-poll. Imagine what will happen during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. We must go back to ballot paper,” said Desai. The malfunctioning also impacted the turnout. Congress state spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged large-scale irregularities and charged that the BJP was attempting to turn the Lok Sabha by-polls into ‘My-polls’.
Similar complaints were made by the Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate Tabassum Hasan in Kairana. RLD leader Ajit Singh rushed to the EC, complaining that many Muslims observing fast walked away on finding the EVMs not functioning. Tabassum alleged that the Election Commission had erred in the first place by holding the by-elections during the month of Ramzan. “They did not expect so many voters, especially Muslim voters, to come out in this heat while fasting,” she said, before adding that when they saw a high turnout, the plan B was to delay the voting by reporting that the machines had developed glitches.
The Assembly by-elections were also held in Palus Kadegaon constituency (Maharashtra), Noorpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jokihat (Bihar), Gomia and Silli (Jharkhand), Chengannur (Kerala), Ampati (Meghalaya), Shahkot (Punjab), Tharali (Uttarakhand) and Maheshtala (West Bengal).