Farmers contesting the Lok Sabha election from Nizamabad constituency staged a dharna here on Wednesday in front of a private function hall at Phulong when officials of Election Commission of India (EC) and the State Chief Electoral Officer arrived there to conduct mock polling.
The agitating farmer-contestants demanded postponement of polling from April 11 and also use of ballot paper instead of EVMs. They alleged that some of the 178 farmers who were in the fray as Independents had still not been allotted symbols, leaving them with little time for campaigning.
Kola Venkateswarlu, one of the contestants, said they were summoned for witnessing mock polling at 11 am. When they arrived, setting aside all work, officials said EVMs had not arrived and would reach after 5 pm. “They asked us to come again after 5 pm,” said an angry Mr. Venkateswarlu, from Armoor.