Korar: Chhattisgarh Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma sparked a controversy after allegedly saying that voters will suffer electric shock if they press the second button of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
“Press the first button, pressing the second button will give you an electric shock,” said the State Excise and Commerce and Industry Minister while speaking at an election rally at Korar in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district.
Members of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party have raised an objection and accused Lakhma of misleading voters over the functioning of the EVM.
The BJP will take up the matter with the Election Commission, said sources in the party.
Sixty-one-year-old Lakhma is a five-time MLA from Konta seat in Sukma district. He was one of the leaders who sustained injuries during the Naxal attack on Congress convoy on 25 May, 2013, in Bastar.
On 25 May 2013, naxals attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha Valley in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. The attack caused at least 27 deaths, including former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel.
Chhattisgarh is witnessing Lok Sabha Election in the three phases for its 11 Parliamentary constituencies. The first phase was held on 11 April, which recorded 65.8 per cent voter turnout. The second phase will be held on 18 and 23 April