EC to use two EVMs in Kolkata North seat for LS polls

The Election Commission will on Sunday put to use two Electronic Voting Machines in each booth in the Kolkata North constituency, as the candidature of 21 nominees has surpassed the capacity of a single EVM, a senior official said Saturday.

The poll panel has commissioned 2,000 extra EVMs and employed more personnel to man them, he said.

The Kolkata North seat will go to polls in the seventh and final phase of the general elections on Sunday.

"There are 21 candidates in the Kolkata Uttar constituency and the maximum one voting machine can accommodate is 16. This has necessitated two EVMs in each booth," the official told PTI.

The EC had faced a similar situation in Howrah, Malda North and Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituencies, too.

In Howrah there were 19 candidates, while Malda North and Darjeeling had 16 each, along with the NOTA option.

TMC's Sudip Bandyopadhyay will contest against Rahul Sinha, the BJP national secretary in the Kolkata North constituency. The CPI(M) has fielded Kaninika Bose and the Congress, Syed Shahid Imam.

An electorate of 1,49,63,064 will decide the fate of 111 candidates in nine Lok Sabha constituencies on Sunday.