Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: There were complaints of faulty EVM's from 100 polling booths.
The first five hours in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls recorded a voter turnout of 26 %, a spokesperson in the Chief Electoral Officer's office said.
Earlier in the day, CEO VL Kantha Rao said that complaints of faulty EVMs and VVPATs were received from over 100 election booths and these were replaced within the first hour.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan voted with his family in Jait village in Bhudni constituency. He is contesting against Congress' Arun Yadav. After voting, Mr Chauhan said, "I am hopeful that the BJP will win the election with a huge mandate."
Appealing to the people of the state to vote in huge numbers, the Chief Minister said, "This vote is not for making a person an MLA but for the good future and development of the state. The way in which I have cast my vote along with my family, I would request people of the state to vote for the BJP for the development."
In Ujjain, two faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) and 11 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced by the Election Commission officials. In Bhuranpur constituency, five VVPATs and two faulty EVMs were replaced by 9 AM.
Taking note of the faulty EVMs, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who also cast his vote in Gwalior, tweeted, "There have been reports of the faulty EVMs from across the state. In democracy, vote is the voice of the people -- it is worrying that an effort is being made to suppress it. I request the Election Commission to immediately take notice of this and ensure that the polling takes place in a fair manner without any hurdles."
State Congress chief Kamal Nath also cast his vote after a temple visit along with his family at a polling booth in Chhindwara.