Naxal attack, IED blast rock phase 1 of polls

Mumbai: Barring a stray incident where two jawans received injuries in Naxal-hit areas in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, an IED (improvised explosive device) blast and technical glitches in a few electronic voting machines (EVM), the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra was largely peaceful. By 5.30 pm, 55.97 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise in all seats.

Seven seats in Vidarbha, including Nagpur where Union minister Nitin Gadkari is contesting, went to the polls on Thursday. Naxals triggered an IED blast near a polling booth in the region’s Maoist-hit Gadchiroli district. However, there were no casualties, a police official said.

Official sources said that two jawans of the commando unit in Gadchiroli were injured at Ahire in Kulsargoti taluka when a group of Maoists opened fire on them after the polling had ended. The Maoists also opened fire at the helicopter ferrying a polling party.

Meanwhile, the Congress’ Maharashtra unit has lodged 50 complaints regarding EVM malfunctions, including six from Wardha, five from Ramtek, 12 from Nagpur, four from Yavatmal-Washim, eight from Chandrapur and four from Gadchiroli.

In a statement issued by the Congress, the party alleged that each voter was taking four to five minutes to cast their vote at some places in all seats. “We have informed the state chief electoral officer (CEO) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) about the issue. We have sent 50 emails to them,” vice-president of the state Congress’ legal unit Vijay Pandey said.

ECI officials said that the complaints were forwarded to the returning officers concerned and immediate corrective measures have been taken.

“During the poll, 150 EVMs and 275 voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines malfunctioned. All of them have been replaced,” said an ECI official.

 Additional chief electoral officer of Maharashtra Dilip Shinde said, “Complaints were received and addressed by ROs/ presiding officers at their level instantly.’’

Mr Shinde said the poll panel had kept 20 per cent of EVMs and 30 per cent of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines on standby. “In case received any complaints related to EVM failure, we would replace them immediately,” Mr Shinde said.

Polling was conducted from 7 am to 6 pm in Nagpur, Ramtek (SC), Wardha, Bhandara-Gondia, Yavatmal-Washim, Chandrapur and some parts of Gadchiroli. The election personnel did not reach four polling stations in the Gadchiroli constituency. The poll will be conducted later in these polling stations. Polling was conducted till 3 pm in rest of the constituency.