Polling and BJP both come to an end in MP: Kamal Nath

Expressing confidence about Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) ouster in Madhya Pradesh, Congress state unit chief Kamal Nath on Wednesday said that the special thing about today's Assembly polls was that "two things come to an end- first the voting process and second Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."

Addressing the media here, the Congress leader further said that his party had initially expected to bag at least 140 seats in the state Assembly elections, but after the recent developments involving the faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) across the state, they are expecting "very surprising result".

"I had said that we will win more than 140 seats but after today's voting and with all the information coming in, there is a possibility of a very surprising result," he said.

Speaking about several complaints of faulty EVMs, the senior Congress leader demanded that re-polling should be done at all those polling booths where voting process was halted for three hours or more.

"Today, there were a lot of complaints of faulty EVMs, there were complaints from almost every Zila. At some places, the delay because of the EVMs was more than three hours. I myself spoke with Chief Election Commissioner (OP)Rawat Ji to conduct re-polling at those places where the process could not be conducted smoothly," Nath added.

The Congress leader said that the Collector of Satna district confirmed the problems in the district, adding that the Election Commission has also acknowledged EVM faults.

"The Satna Collector told me that they don't have machines and the replacements were also faulty, so they had to get machines from elsewhere. That cost them two to four hours. The Election Commission also accepted that the replacements were faulty. All these machines are first tested before being deployed. How were these tests conducted? It has caused a lot of trouble to the voters," Nath stated.

He expressed confidence in his party's victory in the elections, saying "I am sure there has been one-sided voting in the state this time."

The polling for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections was held today recording a voter turnout of 75 per cent. The counting of votes will take place on December 11.