Stating that certain poll booths couldn’t commence election process at 7 AM due to the non-functioning of EVMs, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu wrote to the chief election commissioner seeking extension of polling time.
Amravati: Electronic Voting Machines hampered the polling process across Andhra Pradesh today (April 11). Outgoing chief minister Chandrababu Naidu writes to chief election commissioner seeking extension of time to compensate for the time lost in repairing or replacing EVMs.
In Guntakal, former MLA and contesting candidate of the Jana Sena Party, Madhusudan Gupta, smashed an EVM in a fit of rage alleging that party symbols were not properly printed on the ballot unit. Gupta was immediately taken into police custody.
A member of the YSRCP was seriously injured when he was attacked, allegedly by TDP workers.
In Narasaraopet constituency in Guntur district, YSRCP leaders alleged TDP men ransacked a polling station in Yellamanda village and damaged furniture.
State chief electoral officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, however, said polling was going on peacefully across the state.
He said the technical defects in EVMs, reported from various places, have been rectified.
Talking to reporters, the chief minister referred to technical glitches in EVMs and said he was demanding that ballot papers be re-introduced.
"No developed country is using EVMs as they are prone to manipulation. We have hence been demanding that we revert to the ballot paper system," Naidu said.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister has now written to the chief election commissioner seeking extension of time to cast votes in polling stations where voting process had to be stalled due to non-functioning EVMs.
In his letter, Naidu states “Number of complaints have been received from contesting candidates that in several cases EVMs didn’t function and hence polling couldn’t commence at 7 AM. As a result, polling was delayed by 30 mins to 1 hour...I request that Election Commission of India immediately orders for extension of time for all polling stations.”
State chief electoral officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi cast his vote in Tadepalli. Interestingly, the VVPAT machine did not function when Dwivedi voted.
This is the first general election in the state after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana in June 2014.
There are a total of 3,93,45,717 registered voters, including 1,94,62,339 men, 1,98,79,421 women and 3,957 transgenders. Of the total, 10.15 lakh are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.
Polling would end at 5 pm in the Left-wing Extremism-affected areas, mostly those bordering Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
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