Political parties have expressed the possibility of sabotage behind the malfunctioning of EVMs. CM Oommen Chandy, Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Bharatiya Janata Party president V Muraleedharan have demanded an inquiry into the incident
Thriuvananthapuram : The local body elections in Kerala concluded on Thursday with a polling percentage of 74 percent in the seven districts that went to polls in the second phase.
The high polling is despite disruption in polling in over 300 booths in Malappuram and Thrissur districts and heavy rains in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.
The percentage is expected to go up as the commission has allowed extra two hours for voting in about 270 booths, where polling was stopped for several hours after the EVMs developed troubles. The polling in these booths resumed after the machines were reinstated.
The EC has ordered re-polling in 27 booths in Malappuram and five booths in Thrissur districts, where the polling was stopped for more than six hours, on Friday. Apart from the technical glitches, the polling on Thursday passed off peacefully. No untoward incident was reported from any place. The commission suspects deliberate attempts to tamper with the voting machines after cellophane tape and paper rolls were found stuck in the machines and some were smeared with sticking glue. The Commission asked for reports from the District Collectors.
Political parties have expressed the possibility of sabotage behind the malfunctioning of large number of EVMs. CM Oommen Chandy, Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and BJP president V Muraleedharan have demanded an inquiry into the incident.
Malappuram District Collector T Bhaskaran, however, ruled out any sabotage behind the malfunctioning of the EVMs. He said problems in many places were caused by lack of experience on the part of the employees deployed for duty.
