‘Glued’ EVM button, no paid leave, bogus voting among 92 complaints on polling day

Among these, 56 were filed by the BJP (7) and the Congress (49). Notably, 22 of the 92 complaints were filed by Anand Congress candidate Amit Chavda alone. While four of the 22 complaints were EVM-related, six were those concerning the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and three against crowding, in addition nine others, revealed data by EC.

“There were incidents of police threatening in minority areas. Another was against bogus voting despite webcasting in Dharmaj village. At a few places, EVMs were also replaced. These complaints were sent to the ECI and the Returning Officer through email,” Amit Chavda told The Indian Express.

A complaint from Anand also flagged an unauthorised person moving around a polling station.

Other districts that reported a high number of complaints were Ahmedabad and Rajkot at 21 and 11 respectively.
In Ahmedabad, the Congress complained against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “roadshow” after he casted his vote. However, the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer rejected the complaint citing it was not a roadshow as the PM walked only 200 metres away from the booth.

Meanwhile, at Vasan village polling station in Gandhinagar, the Congress alleged irregularity suspecting that the EVM button against their symbol was not functioning. However, a preliminary inquiry showed that “a voter had used Feviqwik (instant glue) due to which the button for the BJP candidate was not being pressed”, said additional chief electoral officer Kuldeep Arya. Amit Shah was taking on Congress’s Sonal Patel from the seat.

“The BJP appealed to halt the poll process suspecting the malfunctioning had been happening for long. But that was not the case as the presiding officer revealed that the beep sound was being recorded each time during voting indicating that it was working. Thus, within an hour the VVPAT machine was replaced,” Arya told The Indian Express.

Separately, Sonal Patel complained to the EC that unknown persons were threatening voters in Kalol and other areas.
Yet another complaint from the same Lok Sabha constituency was filed by Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Shaktisinh Gohil who accused BJP polling officials of carrying pens with party symbols. “When enquired from the BJP and the DEO, it was revealed that it was a polling agent and not an official,” Arya said.

In another complaint, the Congress stated that a VVPAT machine at Nalanda School in the Ghatlodiya area was not displaying the names and symbols. “This was received around 9 am on the voting day. However, no irregularities were detected when checked,” Arya said. Two complaints of irregularities were reported from the Maninagar area in Ahmedabad. The Congress also complained in Ahmedabad that its party agents were denied seats in the booth.

In Banaskantha, Congress candidate Geniben Thakor complained that some unknown youths were posing as CRPF personnel threatening voters against voting for the party.

Around three complaints of violation of secrecy of the ballot were received, including one from Gir Somnath in which an FIR was registered under Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

These complaints were in addition to the Parthampura incident in Dahod where the EC ordered repolling after a BJP leader’s son went live on video seeking votes in favour of the party. The accused, Vijay Bhabhor, was arrested later.

Incidentally, the state witnessed repolling in the 2019 Lok Sabha election as well as the Assembly election in 2017, but not that of 2022. “In 2017, repolling happened in around seven polling stations, while in 2019, four stations went to repolls,” Bharathi said.