Seven Congress candidates in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district on Tuesday filed complaints with returning officers of the respective constituencies about electronic voting machines.
The candidates who filed the complaint are K Vasantha Bangera (Belthangady), K Ramanatha Rai (Bantval), BA Mohiuddin Bava (Mangalore City North), JR Lobo (Mangalore City South), K Abhayachandra (Modabidri), Shakunthala T Shetty (Puttur) and B Raghu (Sullia). They would file a detailed complaint with a deputy commissioner later in the day or on Wednesday, Deccan Herald reported.
Karnataka Congress Permanent Secretary L Narayan claimed that there was a problem with electronic voting machines. “Otherwise, there is no chance of senior leaders like Ramnath Rai in Bantval trailing,” he told Scroll.in. Rai is trailing by 8,541 votes.
In 2013 elections, the Congress had won seven of the eight seats in the region. But this time, the votes in the district swung the BJP’s way, with the Congress winning only the Mangaluru-Ullal seat.
Earlier in the day, Congress General Secretary Mohan Prakash told ANI that every party, including the BJP, had raised questions about voting machines in the past. “Now, when all parties are doubting EVMs then what problem does BJP have in conducting polls through ballot?” he asked.
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