Mumbai/Lucknow, May 28: The Election Commission, while responding to the complaints of EVM glitches surfacing from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, said the heat-wave condition in the two states caused some of the electronic voting machines to develop technical snags.

In Uttar Pradesh, the crucial Lok Sabha by-election is being held in Kairana constituency, apart from the assembly bypoll in Noorpur. In Maharashtra, the parliamentary seats of Palghar and Bhandara-Gondia went to the polls, along with the legislative constituency of Kaluras-Padgaon.

EVM malfunction was reported in at least 270 booths in Kairana, along with 140 booths in Noorpur. In Maharashtra, voting in at least 35 polling booths was suspended due to the "faulty voting machines". Nearly a dozen voting booths in Bhandara-Gondia were also hit by the EVM glitch.

The RLD in UP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra have written to the Election Commission, seeking an inquiry into the incidents, apart from replacing the faulty EVMs at the earliest. Tabassum Hasan, the RLD candidate from Kairana, alleged the faulty EVMs were deliberately installed in the Muslim and Dalit dominated segments.

"First of all, the bypolls were deliberately scheduled in the month of Ramzan to deter Muslim voters from casting their votes. Secondly, they conspired to install faulty EVMs here (in Muslim segments) to create further complications," Tabassum said.

EC, however, refuted the charges of foul play, claiming the EVM snags are not unprecedented. "There is a standard operating procedure to deal with faulty EVMs and VVPATs... The engineers are looking into the issues and taking action accordingly, like replacing the EVMs," said the statement issued by the Commission.

The bypolls are underway in a total of 14 constituencies across 10 states. The results are scheduled to be declared on Thursday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2018 03:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).