MCD polls: Kejriwal questions SEC over 'malfunctioning' EVMs

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today took on the State Election Commission claiming that reports of "faulty" EVMs were pouring in from across the national capital on polling day.

The Aam Aadmi Party supremo also alleged that many voters with valid voter slips were "not allowed" to exercise their franchise in the municipal polls. Kejriwal had earlier demanded that the election be postponed till arrangements for VVPAT-equipped electronic voting machines (EVMs) were made.

"Reports from all over Delhi of EVM malfunction, people wiith voter slips not allowed to vote. What is SEC doing? (sic)" he wrote on Twitter.

One SEC official admitted that there were reports of "technical glitches" from a few places but added that the faults were rectified.

The VVPAT machine dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box, but the voter cannot take it home.

The voters, however, can see the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slip for seven seconds.Earlier, after casting his vote, Kejriwal urged the voters of Delhi to come out of their houses and exercise their franchise for a "dengue and chikungunya-free Delhi".

"I appeal to the people to come out in large numbers and vote for a chikungunya and dengue-free Delhi," he told reporters.

Asked if the MCD polls were a referendum on the AAP government's two-year performance in Delhi, he said, "We will see that when the results are declared on Wednesday."