Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha By-Election 2018: Re-Polling on May 30 Due to Faulty EVMs
The EC has ordered the transfer of District Collector Abhimanyu Kale, who will be replaced by Kadambari Balkawade.
Palghar, May 29: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered re-polling in 49 booths in Maharashtra’s Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha seat. The polling will be held on May 30 amid tight security. It must be noted that the re-polling has been scheduled after polling was disrupted due to faulty EVMs.
The EC has ordered the transfer of District Collector Abhimanyu Kale, who will be replaced by Kadambari Balkawade. Tight security has been deployed in both the Lok Sabha constituencies to prevent any untoward incidents.
On Monday Election Commission (EC) officer in Bhandara-Gondiya, Anant Walaskar told reporters that EVM-VVPAT malfunctioning complaints were received from 64 polling stations in five hours since polling began for Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya constituencies at 7 a.m. Walaskar was quoted by IANS saying that the EC has repaired some EVM-VVPATs or deployed spare machines in many areas, but in at least 35 polling stations, voting would be held at a later date.
The by-election in Maharashtra’s Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat is important for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is being seen as a litmus test for the next general election. The bypoll to both the seats were scheduled to take place on May 28, 2018 while the counting of votes will take place on May 31, 2018.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered fresh poll at 1 polling station in Nagaland on May 30 after polling was disrupted due to faulty EVM. Meanwhile, re-polling to take place at 73 booths in Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana. Reports inform that nearly 10 per cent of the 10,300 VVPAT machines used in Monday's by-elections across 10 states had developed faults and had to be replaced.
Reports informed that the EVM-VVPATs malfunctioned in polling booths at Khapa, Mandhal, Hingna and Kharbi in Bhandara-Gondiya, besides Tarapur, Shelvali, Kamare, Satpati, Maikhop, Dhuktan, Chinchan and other polling stations in Palghar.
The re-polling in Kairana was called after brawl took place at one spot yesterday & police had taken action. “We will ensure that any untoward incident doesn't take place during re-polling tomorrow”, Praveen Kumar, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Law and Order.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 29, 2018 08:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).