MADURAI: Tension prevailed in Melur municipality's ward 8 as a BJP booth agent demanded a Muslim woman remove her fartha and mask to cross-check her name on the voters' list.
According to sources, Muslim women wearing fartha along with masks came to cast their votes at the polling station in Al-Ameen High School in Melur Municipality.
The booth agent of BJP, one Giriraj, demanded one of them remove her mask and headscarf to cross-check with her photo on the voters' list. He said that it was not possible to cross-check the photos with the women wearing hijab.
Following the altercation, he alleged that bogus votes were being cast. Meanwhile, the polling personnel, booth agents of DMK, AIADMK and other parties intervened and got involved in an altercation. They asked the BJP cadres to replace the troublesome booth agent.
The polling was disrupted for nearly 15 minutes due to the scuffle. Later, the agent was replaced and the polling continued in the booth.
Meanwhile, an EVM machine in a polling station located in Kamarajar Road of ward 43 in Madurai Corporation turned dysfunctional. The polling was stopped until the machine was replaced.
The urban local body polls in the district are being held for a total of 100 wards in Madurai Corporation, 78 wards in 3 municipalities and 135 wards in 9 town panchayats. A total of 1,702 candidates are contesting for 313 vacant posts after 9 candidates, including one DMK candidate, were elected unopposed. Of the 15,73,289 eligible voters, 6.42 per cent have turned out to vote as per the reports at 9 am.