Congress complains to EC, alleges EVM malfunctioning in Maharashtra

The Congress on Monday has claimed that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were malfunctioning in several booths across Maharashtra. Congress General Secretary and the party's war room in-charge in Mumbai, Avinash Pandey, said that they have recieved complaints from all over the State regarding faulty EVMs.

Speaking to the media, Avinash Pandey said, "We have been sitting here in the Congress war room since 6 AM and have received many complaints of EVMs not functioning properly in various polling booths, some of which were even changed after the complaint." 

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Pandey gave the example of a polling booth in the Ramtek assembly constituency. "For example, in booth number 337 in the Ramtek assembly constituency, a complaint came that while the button against one party's symbol was being pressed, the VVPAT showed the symbol of another party. This is a serious fault. We have complained to the Election Commission regarding this and we are hopeful it will be resolved soon," Pandey said.

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Maharashtra goes to polls

Polling is currently underway in Maharashtra, with a voter turnout at 37.6% till 3 PM. Various senior leaders like CM Devendra Fadnavis, the Thackerays, Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani were seen voting. Bollywood too came out in big numbers to exercise their democratic right. Many celebrities like the Khans, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor, Javed Akhtar, and Shabana Azmi were spotted voting at their respective poll booths.

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Maharashtra Assembly Elections

In Maharashtra, the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the NCP. In the saffron alliance, BJP will be contesting on 150 seats, and Shiv Sena will fight on 124 seats in Maharashtra. Alliance partners of BJP have fielded 14 candidates on the party's Lotus symbol. Meanwhile, the Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with the NCP. Both parties are contesting on 125 seats each in the 288-member Assembly and its allies on the remaining 38 seats.

Currently, the BJP holds 122 seats, while the Shiv Sena holds 63 seats. The Opposition held by the UPA has 42 seats. Earlier in Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena allaince won 41 seats while the UPA was reduced to merely five seats in Maharashtra. The results of the state Assembly elections will be announced on October 24.

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(With ANI inputs)