Voting disrupted at Vasna polling booth after Congress candidate alleges EVM malfunction in Ahmedabad civic polls

Polling during the local self-government elections was briefly disrupted at a booth in the Vasna area of Ahmedabad on Saturday after a Congress candidate alleged that the voting machine was not registering votes for the party’s symbol.

The incident occurred at the polling booth set up at GB Shah College in Vasna, where voting was temporarily halted following the objection raised by the Congress candidate.

The candidate alleged that the button corresponding to the Congress symbol on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was not functioning, preventing voters from casting their ballots for the party.

A total of 652 candidates are in the fray for AMC polls, representing major political parties including the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), AIMIM, along with a number of independent contenders. The contest is being closely tracked, particularly in light of the BJP’s continued dominance in the civic body over the past two decades.

The BJP has held power in the AMC since 2005.

Polling comes amid challenging summer conditions, with high temperatures expected to influence voter turnout.

The city’s voter base has also seen a significant shift. As per the final electoral roll released on April 1, Ahmedabad now has 38,00,507 registered voters, a sharp decline of over 8.24 lakh compared to 2021 figures. In contrast, the 2015 voter count stood at 38,79,771. Notably, 45 of the 48 wards have recorded a drop in voter numbers, pointing to a reshaped electoral landscape.