Praise from the Congress for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is rare and when it comes from none other than former party president Rahul Gandhi, it really qualifies for something remarkable. Sadly, it is neither. Rahul Gandhi on Monday came out in praise for a BJP leader and bestowed upon him the tag of “most honest man” in the ruling party, but only to take a swipe over a viral video.

What earned him the tag? The video shows BJP candidate from Haryana’s Assandh Assembly constituency allegedly saying that “they have rigged the EVM” and regardless of whichever button is pressed on the EVM, the vote would go to the saffron party. The former Congress president described sitting MLA and BJP candidate Bakshish Singh Virk as the “most honest man” in the ruling party.

However, Virk has dubbed the video as “fake.” He alleged it as a conspiracy to defame him and the BJP when the polling is underway. In the video, Virk allegedly asks his party workers, “We will come to know who has voted for whom, there should be no misconception about this….”, reports PTI. The MLA also claimed that he never had said anything about the Electronic Voting Machine.

“The most honest man in the BJP,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet, tagging the video along with it.

The video also caught the watchful eye of the Election Commission of India (ECI) which proceeded to served a show-cause notice to Virk. The poll body has also appointed a special observer to the Assandh Assembly constituency to take “corrective action.” According to reports, the poll panel has appointed former Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi as a special observer to the constituency in Haryana’s Karnal district.

The voting to 90 Assembly constituency in the state is currently underway. As per reports, around 25 per cent of voters have exercised their franchise rights so far. The polling will continue till 6 pm. As many as 1,169 candidates including 105 women of various political parties are contesting the election. The prominent figures in the Haryana Assembly elections 2019 include Chief Minister Khattar, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, JJP’s Dushyant Chautala and INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala.