Malfunctioning EVMs hit polling, EC seeks report – Times of India

Kolkata: Instances of malfunctioning EVMs plagued the Phase 1 polls on Saturday.
From the very onset of the polling there were reports of malfunctioning of 107 EVMs. West Midnapore reported 55 cases of EVM replacement in six seats.
Officials claimed the malfunctioning EVMs were promptly replaced in most places. The EC had sought a report from the observers where polling was halted due to problems of EVMs.
EVM troubles also led to protests in several places. The trouble was spotted at Mahanananda Vidyamandir in Midnapore as Trinamool workers staged a protest in the evening. Trinamool workers alleged that there was a ploy against the party and the presiding officer was gheraoed till late night.
At Chhatna constituency of Bankura, polling was halted in three booths due to EVM problems. Arup Chakraborty, Trinamool district chairperson, claimed that it was a ploy by the EC to disturb the polling process and put a hurdle against the Trinamool candidate.
In some booths of Purulia, too, voting was affected due to EVM problem, but EC officials said that the problems were soon attended to.
At Contai South, the polling process was also halted at Majna for over an hour as the voters alleged about the VVPAT malfunctioning. But the EC officials said that the allegation was baseless.
EC said they have sought a report in the Purulia incident in which Sujay Banerjee, a Trinamol Congress candidate, had threatened to open fire at a BJP candidate.
The EC has asked for a report on the Thursday night incident at Patashpur in East Midnapore in which the OC Dipak Kumar Chakraborty was injured along with a central armed police jawan after bombs were hurled. The jawan was hospitalised in Kolkata.
The EC officials said that throughout the day ten people were arrested. Seven were arrested for the attack on CPM candidate Sushanta Ghosh at Salboni. Later in the day the car of a BJP agent Soumendu Adhikari was ransacked and three people were arrested. The EC has sought report from the observers about these incidents. The EC has also sought a report pon the murder of BJP worker Mongol Soren at Keshiary.
Polling was mostly peaceful in 30 assembly seats for except some stray incidents, said chief electoral officer Aariz Aftab. The CEO said that in the first phase of polls, around 74 lakh voters across 10,288 polling stations cast their votes.