Reports of faulty EVMs rock Gujarat, Election Commission says machines replaced

SURAT: Reports of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are emerging from some parts of Gujarat in the first phase of polling in the state. There were complaints of errors in 35 machines in Rajkot in the morning but later the technical glitches were rectified. It has been reported that all EVMs are working fine now.

The Election Commission said that the faulty EVMs have been replaced. "Have replaced two machines and one VVPAT, you cannot really call it a technical error, these are electronic items there can be some issues. Now everything is okay and voting has started," Master Trainer Election Commission Vipul Goti said in Varaccha in Surat.

The poll panel also received several complaints of EVM malfunctioning in Kosamba region of Valsad district.

A Congress candidate from Pardi also filed a complaint with the EC for a Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) not showing the paper slip while voting. Senior Congress leader from Porbandar, Arjun Modhwadia has complained of one EVM machine connected with a WiFi.

Reacting to the reports, Congress said that any malfunction must must be immediately rectified. "Wherever there are complaints of EVM malfunctioning, it should be dealt with immediately," Congress leader Ahmed Patel said.

Large queues lined up outside 24,689 polling booths as voting began in the first phase on Saturday. People showed an unprecedented response in Rajkot and Amreli as nearly 16 per cent polling since 8 am. 

A total of 977 candidates are in the fray from Kutch, Morbi, Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Rajkot, Botad, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Gir Somnath, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Narmada, Surat, Tapi, Navsari, Dang and Valsad districts.

Of the 89 seats, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party holds 67 and the Congress 16. One seat each is held by the NCP and JD-U while independents hold the remaining two.