In a shocking incident in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, a bus carrying election officials and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) caught fire, according to the reports.
However, no polling staff and the driver of the bus suffered any injury in the incident, Betul Collector Narendra Suryavanshi informed.
The incident took place near Gola village around 11 pm in the district on Tuesday, he said.
According to the Betul Collector Narendra Suryavanshi, the bus caught fire because of the spark. No one suffered any injuries in the incident.
The flame however, damaged EVMs of four polling stations, booth numbers 275, 276, 277, 278, 279 and 280.
In the aftermath of the incident, questions rose regarding its potential influence on the vote tally in the EVMs. The collector affirmed his intention to present a comprehensive report to the Election Commission, leaving the decision about potential re-polling in the disturbed areas in their hands.
Asked whether the incident would affect the vote count recorded in the EVMs, the collector said that he will send his report to the Election Commission on the issue and the poll body will take a decision regarding re-polling on the affected booths.