Amid the polling for the seventh and final phase of the Assembly elections on Monday, Uttar Pradesh Minister Ravindra Jaiswal alleged that the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was purposely kept switched off at a booth in Maldahiya, Varanasi, delaying voting by 40 minutes.
Jaiswal is the BJP nominee from Varanasi North constituency. He along with his wife and family members had come to cast vote at the Government Girls Inter College here.
"Voting was delayed by around 40 minutes at booth number 311 because of the main power switch connected to the EVM remaining off due to negligence by the polling officer here," Jaiswal alleged.
Jaiswal further said that he has spoken to the District Magistrate (DM), asking for strict action against the polling officer.
Talking about the Bharatiya Janata Party's chances in the elections, Jaiswal said that the party will win all the seats in the Varanasi district.
"The BJP will get over 350 seats in this Assembly elections," he added.
Meanwhile, a total of 2.06 crore are eligible to cast their votes in the final phase of the polls in the state, with 613 candidates in the fray, including a few of the ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.
The 54 constituencies going to polls today are spread across nine districts of Mau, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, and Bhadohi (Sant Ravidas Nagar).
Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parliamentary constituency, and Samajwadi Party's stronghold Azamgarh are keenly watched electoral battlegrounds in the last phase of the elections.
Varanasi district has eight Assembly seats -- Pindra, Ajagara, Shivpur, Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantonment, and Sevapuri. Azamgarh district on the other hand has 10 Assembly constituencies -- Gopalpur, Sagri, Mubarakpur, Azamgarh, Mehnagar, Atrauliya, Nizamabad, Phoolpur Pawai, Didarganj, and Lalganj.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
( With inputs from ANI )
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