Two men were arrested on Wednesday for alleged bogus voting at the Dahod Lok Sabha constituency and live-streaming the act on social media in Gujarat’s Mahisagar district.
The two men were BJP members. The live-streamed video went viral following which the Congress candidate promptly brought the episode to the Election Commission’s notice.
The act was live-streamed from the Facebook account of one of the accused, Vijay Bhabhor, 28. In the video, Bhabhor is seen entering the polling area of a booth in Prathampur and fidgeting with the electronic voting machine while also resisting the warnings of the election officials.
Bhabhor is heard saying in the video, “Give us 10 minutes, we are sitting here… it (polling) has been going on since morning. It does not work like that… Only the BJP can run. Machine aapnu baapnu che (The machine belongs to our father)…,” Indian Express reported.
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The man is also seen encouraging others to press the “lotus” button, the symbol for BJP. From the Dahod constituency, the BJP has once again nominated the sitting BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor.
He is also seen breaking into a dance with the electronic voting machine even as he assures his accomplice that he “is in control” in the area.
The video was live-streamed from the polling booth at Santrampur taluka in Mahisagar district on his Instagram account but later deleted the video after it was widely circulated.
The opposition party claimed that Vijay was the son of incumbent MP and BJP candidate Jasvantsinh Bhabhor and demanded re-polling at the booth.
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A Congress polling agent from Gothi village has also complained that he was assaulted by the accused duo and threatened with dire consequences.
Mahisagar Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja told The Indian Express that the duo had been arrested under sections of the Representation of the People Act as well as the Indian Penal Code.
“We have arrested two persons, Vijay Bhabhor, 28, and Manoj Magan, 38, for conducting bogus voting in the polling station in Prathampur. The two are members of the BJP and Bhabhor’s father Ramesh Bhabhor is a former president of the Santrampur taluka panchayat. The accused have been booked under IPC sections 171 (wearing garb or carrying token used by a public servant with fraudulent intent) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant),” Jadeja said.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi attacked the BJP over the incident.
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“Among the many incidents of threatening voters and trying to prevent voters from casting their votes in Gujarat, the most serious cases emerged at night from Dahod, where the son of a BJP leader was seen casting bogus votes while keeping voters waiting in the queue and even went live on Facebook to say that the ‘administration cannot touch me’…” Doshi said.
“It clearly shows that he was acting as per the orders received from higher-ups and the police were silent spectators to the incident… Not a single BJP leader has said anything about this incident,” he alleged.
Doshi said the live-streaming of bogus voting in Santrampur was “only one example” of the many malpractices that occurred during the polling on Tuesday.
Voting on all 26 seats of Gujarat was carried out during the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.