JAMMU: The Congress button on an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch is not working and similar malfunctions have been reported in at least six voting booths in the state, a report tweeted by National Conference leader Omar Abdullah claimed, as polling began for the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.
In a video posted on YouTube, the presiding officer of polling station in Jammu’s Poonch district is heard trying to placate a crowd who are seemingly upset at the delay in voting to begin. NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
When pressed further, he says, “The fourth button is not working… haath wala.” ‘Haath’ or hand is the election symbol of the Congress.
“If it was one or two machines we would have understood but there are reports of so many machines are malfunctioning,” a member of the crowd is heard saying.
Responding to the report, the Poonch District Election Officer told news agency ANI: “There was an issue with Congress button in Shahpur, our staff replaced the machine. At another polling station BJP button wasn’t working, we changed that also.”
The Jammu seat has the highest number of 24 candidates in the state in these polls. The constituency, spread over four districts of Jammu, Samba, Poonch and Rajouri and covering 20 assembly segments, was won by BJP’s Jugal Kishore in the 2014 general elections, defeating veteran Congress leader and two-time MP Madan Lal Sharma by a margin of over 2.57 lakh votes.
