Election Commission orders repolling in Madhya Pradesh's Betul after EVMs damaged in fire

The exercise will be conducted on Friday. The EVMs were damaged after a bus ferrying the voting machines caught fire on Tuesday night.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered repolling for Friday at four booths in Madhya Pradesh's Betul Lok Sabha seat, after a bus ferrying polling staff and electronic voting machines (EVMs) caught fire in Betul district on Tuesday night.

All 36 people who were on the bus escaped unhurt, police said.

The Election Commission's re-polling directive came after it received a report from the district administration on the fire incident. The exercise will be held at Chikhlimal, Dudar Raiyat, Kunda Raiyat, and Rajapur of the Multai assembly segment in the parliamentary constituency.

“Arrangements are being made at a war-footing. Liquor shops will be closed at the 3 km range of the polling stations,” said Narendra Suryavanshi, Collector, Betul.

The incident

The incident which left the voting machines damaged took place after the bus caught fire in Goula village while carrying officials after election duty; voting for the third of the ongoing seven-phase general election was conducted on Tuesday.

There were 36 people on the vehicle and no one was hurt, according to police.

The blaze was due to a mechanic fault, said Nischal Jharia, Superintendent of Police (SP), Betul.

“The personnel left with EVMs from six booths. As many as four machines suffered a little damage to their parts, while the other two were undamaged. The staff jumped out by somehow breaking the glass on the windows. The doors had become jammed. Another bus was arranged to send them home,” the officer stated.

Madhya Pradesh has total 29 Lok Sabha seats. Of these, voting was held on eight in the third phase: Betul, Bhind, Bhopal, Gwalior, Guna, Morena, Rajgarh, and Vidisha. The approximate voter turnout stood at 66.05%, as per the national poll panel's data. 

(With ANI inputs)