ANDHRA CM Naidu Alleges 30 To 40 Per cent EVMs Malfunctioned During LS & Assembly Poll In his State

ANDHRA Pradesh Chief Minister and ruling TDP chief Nara Chandrababu on Saturday, April 13, met Chief  Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and alleged that 30 to 40 per cent of voting machines in his state did not work properly on the first day of polling in the Lok Sabha and  assembly  polling on  April 11.Speaking  to media people after the meet with EC  officials  ,Naidu said he will have no option  but to resort to  a sit-in if there is no positive response from the Election Commission to his grievances . Naidu also demanded re-poll in about 150 polling booths since polling there was impacted due to non-functioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs). He said the ECI was functioning as per the instructions of the government. “The Election Commission is an autonomous body but it is working on instructions of (PM) Modi and the government of India”. “Election Commission is not cooperating with us.” Naidu was accompanied by lawmakers and senior leaders of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Naidu also said he would file a review petition in the Supreme Court over its order on counting of VVPAT slips. As many as 25 parliamentary seats and 175 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh voted in the first phase of the national election. A relatively low turnout of 66 per cent was recorded compared to last time’s high of 78.8 per cent. Counting of votes is scheduled to be taken up on May 23. Raising questions on the poll panel’s independence and impartiality, Naidu told reporters outside the EC headquarters that the level playing field — an essential attribute of democracy — “now stands disturbed”. Officials in Andhra were being transferred in an arbitrary manner and the Chief Secretary has been replaced by a person, who was accused along with YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy in a case.“The government of India is interfering through the EC. We have complained against EVMs earlier as well.