UP bypolls: RLD, SP complain of EVM problems in nearly 200 booths

The Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party have complained of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines in dozens of booths during voting in the bypoll for Kairana Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh. Problems with EVMs have also been reported during the Noorpur assembly seat bypoll underway.

The Samajwadi Party has been tweeting updates of EVM problems at various booths in both Kairana and Noorpur all morning, and urging the Election Commission to ensure smooth voting.

Unsurprisingly then, only 12% per cent polling has been recorded in Kairana in the first two hours of voting. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter to urge voters to cast their votes despite the widespread reports of EVM malfunctions.

The SP, BSP, Congress-supported RLD candidate in Kairana Tabassum Hasan has lodged a complaint with the EC. ANI reported that Hasan has written to the Election Commission over faulty EVMs and VVPATs in around 175 polling booths across Shamli, Kairana and Noorpur. RLD party leader Jayant Chaudhary said “So many malfunctioning EVMs point to some sort of systematic anarchy!”

Voting in Kairana and Noorpur began amid tight security at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. The EC has deputed 53 companies of the para-military forces here and 10 companies of the provincial armed constabulary.

In Kairana, the main contest is between Mriganka Singh of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hasan. Singh, daughter of the late BJP MP from Kairana, Hukum Singh is counting on the sympathy wave in the name of her father and the power of the Yogi Adityanath government to win the election, while Hasan is pinning her hopes on the opposition unity as the SP, BSP, Nishad Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have all extended their support to her.

In Noorpur, BJP's Avni Singh is pitted against Naimul Hasan of the SP.

With IANS inputs