News Desk; The announcement of results for several wards in the Kota Municipal Corporation election in Rajasthan has been put on hold following technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). A similar issue also prevented the result of one ward in the Suket municipality from being declared. To resolve the situation, the Rajasthan State Election Commission has ordered repolling at the affected polling booths. Voting will be held again on September 16, while counting is scheduled for September 17.
Results have so far been declared for 97 of the 100 wards in the Kota Municipal Corporation. According to the results announced so far, the BJP has won 55 wards, while the Congress has secured 38. Independent candidates have won four wards. However, results for Wards 11, 44 and 87 could not be declared because voting data could not be retrieved from the EVMs used there.
According to the Election Commission’s decision, repolling will be conducted at a total of 10 booths in the affected areas. The repoll will take place on September 16 from 7 am to 6 pm. Counting of the votes is scheduled to begin at 8 am on September 17.
The EVM malfunction has also triggered a political controversy. Congress candidate Lakshmi Sharma, along with party leaders, staged a protest outside the counting centre in Kota’s Ward 87. They demanded that transparency be maintained throughout the electoral process. They also called for the concerned EVMs to be sealed and kept in secure custody.
The Election Commission said that the malfunctioning EVMs have been kept in safe custody. Rajasthan State Election Commissioner Rajeshwar Singh said that the machines involved in the incident were old. According to him, the concerned EVMs were around 13 years old and had been in use for a considerable period. The Commission also stated that a proposal seeking funds from the state government for purchasing new EVMs had been submitted but had not yet received approval.
The decision to conduct a repoll was taken after it was found that the number of votes affected by the EVM problem was greater than the winning margins of the concerned candidates. As a result, no final decision can be taken on the affected seats until fresh voting is completed.
The BJP has already emerged as the largest party in the Kota Municipal Corporation based on the results declared so far. However, the complete picture will become clear only after the remaining results are announced. The elections for chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the concerned civic bodies have also been postponed. The next stage of the electoral process will begin only after the repolling and subsequent counting are completed.
