Nagaon Bypoll: EVM malfunction disrupts voting at Singari polling station

Voting in the Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election was disrupted at Polling Station No. 58, Singari M.E.M., in Assam’s Nagaon district after the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioned, officials said. Voting had not commenced at the station due to the technical issue.

Polling began at 7 am on Tuesday and is scheduled to continue until 5 pm across the constituency. A total of 2,112 polling stations, including five auxiliary booths, five model polling stations and 335 women-managed booths, have been set up for the bypoll.

As many as 19,02,009 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the election, including 9,58,595 men, 9,43,364 women and 50 third-gender voters. Fifteen candidates are contesting the by-election.

The Nagaon and Morigaon district administrations have deployed around 9,664 polling personnel to conduct the election. The arrangements also include 86 micro-observers and 69 flying squad teams (FSTs) and 69 static surveillance teams (SSTs). Webcasting has been arranged at all polling stations to monitor the polling process.

The by-election has brought the BJP and Congress into a direct contest in the constituency. The BJP has fielded former Nagaon district commissioner Debashish Sharma, who took voluntary retirement from government service before entering the electoral fray.

Sharma is contesting against Congress candidate Sibamoni Bora, a former legislator from the now-redrawn Batadroba constituency. All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and sitting Binnakandi MLA Badruddin Ajmal is also contesting the bypoll, seeking a return to the Lok Sabha.

The by-election was necessitated after former Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who previously represented the constituency, switched political allegiance and sided with the BJP.