Lucknow: Contrary to the State Election Commission's tall claims about the arrangements for the Municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh, EVM malfunctioning and names missing from the voters' list were reported from many parts of 25 districts going to polls on Sunday.
UP cabinet minister and sitting MLA from Lucknow Cantonment Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra's names were missing from the voters' list.
Even the name of Virbhadra Nishad, the proponent of PM Modi in the Lok Sabha Elections from Varanasi, was not there on the list.
Former CM of UP and National president of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe and tweeted, “Media reports that a lot of voters names are missing from the voting list of today’s election. This type of digital India cannot take us forward.”
In Varanasi, 10 people have been detained for bogus voting, while a municipal councilor candidate in Etawah has been arrested on charges of indecency with the police. EVM malfunctioning was reported from two booths of ward 26 Eden Garden and St. Marys. The EVM of Ward No. 25 was also not functioning properly due to which polling had to be stopped. Also, EVM malfunctioning was reported from Railway Colony area where polling was stopped, irking the voters.
Interestingly, after the conclusion of the first phase of polling, State Election Commissioner SK Agarwal had claimed before the press that the EVMs used in the municipal polls were of class one and they were the best quality EVMs that the commission had. SK Agarwal had also said that voter lists were revised and updated by the Commission.
A case of violation of model code of conduct came to light as BJP Mayoral candidate Mridula Jaiswal wore a BJP scarf while voting even after a warning from police. In Varanasi, 8 women and two men have been detained for bogus voting in St. Mary's School of Sarnath Police Station area.
The scenario in state capital Lucknow was also not different from Varanasi as the day started with EVM Malfunctioning reports from Gomti Nagar, Vrindavan Scheme and some other parts of the city. Names of voters missing from the voter list was also reported, with wrong names and addresses printed on the list in many localities, including Indira Nagar area.
Voting was stopped at the newly formed Nagar Nigam, Mathura after people protested as many failed to trace their names on the voters' list. An incident of firing outside the polling booth was also reported from Sadar Bazar Kotwali in Shahjahanpur.
In Ghaziabad, EVM malfunctioning was reported from booth number 406 to 412 at Shambhu Dayal Kendra. In Aligarh, at the Ward-42 of St Fidelis School people started a protest and had a heated argument with the BLO as more than 60 people couldn’t find their names on the voting list. Also, the name of the former election commissioner GVG Krishnamurthy was missing from the voter list in Ghaziabad. About the problem of EVM malfunctioning, DM Ghaziabad said that many EVM machines sent in the district are outdated and hence, technical problems.
A candidate in Etawah has been arrested on charges of indecency with the police. In Allahabad, polling was disturbed at three places after EVM machines started malfunctioning in Alopibagh, Nayapura, and Mutthiganj.
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