MP bypolls: Counting paused for an hour after Congress supporters allege mismanagement

The counting of votes in the Madhya Pradesh bypolls, which were paused after the 14th round on Tuesday due to the allegations of mismanagement and unfair conduct against the polling officials by the Congress, was resumed after an hour.

Party leader and Sanwer candidate Premchand Guddu's son, Ajit Borasi, claimed that the seals of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were broken and that the officials were working under the pressure of the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

"All officials, including the police and the district collectors, are working as agents inside. They are all working under the BJP's pressure. Several EVM seals were found broken. I saw six of them myself," he alleged.

"In the last 14 rounds, we have made several complaints but no action has been taken. I will be taking this to court," he added.

Guddu's daughter Rashmi Borasi echoed: "The tags were mismatched and many of them did not have signatures. The pink-paper seals and green seals did not match. When we asked the officials about this, they said that these things happen and avoided our questions. The police are also not checking for mobile phones properly."

With the declaration of the 15th round of counting, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Tulsiram Silavat is currently leading in the Sanwer Assembly constituency with 73,173 votes, followed by Premchand Guddu of the Congress with 45,802 votes, lagging behind by 27,371 votes.

The two are followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party's Vikram Singh Gehlot (1,287) and Janata Party's Shailesh Thagele (110).

As per the ECI, till 6.33 pm, the BJP had won 9 seats, while leading on 10. Its closest rival Congress had won one, while leading on eight.

The BJP's vote share at 6:33 pm was at 50 per cent, and that of Congress was at 40.4 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )