BSP leader throws ink on EVM machine in Thane

A Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, Sunil Khambe threw ink on the EVM at a polling booth while voting for Maharashtra Assembly polls on Monday.

In a video of his act, Khambe was seen raising slogans of 'EVM nahi chalega' (EVM won't work) at a polling booth here.

Later Khambe was dragged by the police, bundled into a police van and taken to a police station.

In another development, Maharashtra Congress on Monday claimed that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were malfunctioning in several booths across the state.

"We have been sitting here in the Congress war room since 6 am and have received many complaints of EVMs not functioning properly in various polling booths, some of which were even changed after the complaint," Avinash Pandey Congress general secretary and the party's war room in-charge in Mumbai told ANI.

Voting for 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra began at 7 am today.

The electoral fate of 3,237 candidates in the state will be sealed in EVMs by the voters who will exercise their franchise in the assembly elections.

Of the 288 seats, BJP is contesting on 164; this includes candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while its key ally Shiv Sena has fielded 126 candidates in the state. On the other hand, Congress has candidates in 147 constituencies and NCP is contesting 121 seats.