Punjab assembly election: Election Commission has announced to re-polls in 48 polling stations falling in Muktsar, Majitha and Sangrur assembly divisions in Punjab due to malfunctioning in the Voter-Verified Audit Paper Trail (VVPAT) EVMs on 4 February. EC will conduct voting on February 9.
The Election Commission said that at some places polling was disrupted because the VVPAT machines and EVMs had broken down. Out of 24,697 Ballot Units and 24,256 Control Units in Punjab180BUs and 184BCUS failed at the time of polling, the EC added.
Punjab assembly election: Arvind Kejriwal attacked EC
After VVPATs created a problem, AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had attacked the Election Commission while putting a tweet on twitter said, “Never has any election seen malfunctioning EVMs on such a large scale. Was it mischief done deliberately by or in collusion with EC?”
Repolling will be conducted under the tight security of a few companies of paramilitary forces again. Shriomani Akalis Dal’s Bikram Singh Majithia and Aam Admi Party (AAP) are the key contenders from the Majitha assembly constituency.
25 polling stations in Majitha and 10 each in Sangrur and Muktsar were affected
Election Commission has used VVPAT for the first time in Punjba at 6,668 polling stations in 33 assembly divisions and two segments in Amritsar Lok Sabha seats. During a trial 538 VVPATs were place whereas during polling 187 VVPAT were placed. 25 polling stations in Majitha and ten each in Sangrur and Muktsar were affected due to the malfunctioning of the VVPATs machines.
