LS elections :AAP demands repoll in North Goa

AAP claims that SJP's 'battery torch' symbol on the EVMs was similar to the AAP's broom and has ended up confusing its voters

AAP Saturday demanded a repoll in the North Goa constituency claiming that the Samajwadi Janata Party's (SJP) 'battery torch' symbol on the EVMs was similar to the AAP's broom and has ended up confusing its voters.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) office bearer Valmiki Naik said in a complaint that many of the AAP voters came back confused from the polling booths in the constituency, when they found the 'battery torch' symbol placed just below the AAP's broom symbol on the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"The inclusion of the misleading symbol has caused irreparable loss and prejudice to democracy, to voters in general and the AAP in particular," Naik said in his complaint to the chief electoral officer.

Naik claimed that the 'battery torch' symbol was illegally tweaked on the EVMs, which created the confusion.

"On the EVMs, rays are shown emanating from the battery torch and due to the presence of these rays, the battery torch appears like a broom," Naik said.

The AAP leader said the battery torch symbol with rays had been withdrawn by the election officials during the Lok Sabha election in Delhi and a similar course should be resorted to by the Election Commission in Goa.

"The Goa authorities can take a cue from this, for doing the needful of restoring the correct unambiguous symbol of battery torch without rays," Naik said.

AAP's Dattaram Desai is taking on Ravi Naik of the Congress and sitting BJP MP Shripad Naik in the North Goa constituency. The SJP has fielded Raju D'Souza as its candidate from the constituency.