The second phase of civic body polling in Uttar Pradesh was interrupted in several booths in Lucknow on Sunday due to technical glitches in electronic voting machines (EVM) which were replaced after some time.

“We are standing since 7:30am, but officials say the EVM machines are out of order, and it will take another few minutes for the other EVM machines to reach,” said Suresh Kumar, standing in a queue at Prathmik Vidhyalaya Barauli, Khalilabad, in ward 14 near Nagram Nilmatha Road of Lucknow.

Polling was also interrupted in Ibrahimpur ward-1, booth number 284 and 285 of Sarojini Nagar ward number 14, Indira Nagar ward 86 in New Way convent polling centre, Indira Nagar sector 18 Community Hall and at Rani Lakshmi Bai School due to technical snags in EVMs.

Faulty EVMs were reported in the first phase of the polls on November 22 in Meerut and Kanpur. Voters had complained that the EVMs were recording votes only for the BJP candidates irrespective of the button pressed, prompting parties to raise the issue.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate for mayor’s post, Bulbul Godiyal on Friday filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court demanding fair civic polls. “I have demanded use of voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with the EVMs to ensure fair elections. This will also ensure transparency in the civic polls,” said Godiyal.

“The petition will come up for hearing on Monday. However, by then the second phase (November 26) of polling will be over,” said Godiyal. “But my petition will be helpful for the third phase, which is scheduled on November 29,” added Godiyal.

Launching a scathing attack on the Centre over alleged EVM tampering the Aam Aadmi Party had on Friday demanded a comprehensive probe into the matter by an independent agency.

The party has also demanded that the Modi government must come up with a white paper on this issue.

Reports of tampering with the EVMs had also come in from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he added.