Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday claimed that Border Security Force personnel manhandled a voter at a polling booth in Jammu because he refused to cast his vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Meanwhile, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah claimed that the Congress symbol button on electronic voting machines are not working in Poonch polling stations.

Mufti attached a video to corroborate her claim on Twitter. “Using armed forces at polling stations to coerce people to vote for the BJP shows their desperation and hunger to usurp power by hook or crook,” she tweeted.

Meanwhile, Poonch District Election Officer acknowledged that there was a problem with the Electronic Voting Machines in Poonch earlier on Friday, ANI reported. The official claimed that the machines were replaced. “The Congress button in a machine in Shahpur was not working, while the BJP button was not working at another station,” the officer said.

Voting for the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections began on Thursday. Voters in 91 constituencies in 18 states and two Union Territories will vote.