BJP LS candidate Madhavi Latha booked for asking Muslim women to reveal faces to check identity
Hyderabad, May 13: A case was registered by election authorities against BJP candidate for Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat K Madhavi Latha on Monday after a video clip in which she was purportedly asking burqa-clad women voters to reveal their faces and check their ID cards surfaced.
In the video, Latha was seen asking the women voters at a polling booth to lift their veil and show their face so that she could verify their identity.
In a post on X, the Hyderabad Collector said, "A case is registered in Malakpet police station against Madhavi Latha, contesting candidate, BJP, under Sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act."
Section 171C deals with interference or attempts to interfere with the free exercise of any electoral right.
Section 186 is related to voluntarily obstructing any public servant in the discharge of public function, while 505 is applied for inciting or likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community.
Latha was also seen telling the policemen to allow voters into polling booths only after a thorough check.
She clarified that she only requested the woman to show her ID card, to which the latter obliged.
"Why I had to ask her? Because, the female police officer at the polling booth was not interested in checking (the voters). When questioned, they said that they had not received any such instructions. So, in such a case, one has to do it themselves,” she told PTI videos.
"What can we do? Should we let rigging take place? Then give us instructions that 'we will do rigging, you should let rigging happen'. Legalise rigging. Poverty will remain as it is. Unemployment will continue," she said.
Polling for the total 17 Lok Sabha seats was held in Telangana on Monday.
Madhavi Latha is taking on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha segment.
BJP's #Hyderabad MP candidate Madhavi Latha ( @Kompella_MLatha ) was seen verifying voters IDs of #Muslim womens voters during #LokSabhaElection2024.
— Mohd Dastagir Ahmed (@Dastagir_Hyd) May 13, 2024
A case is registered in Malakpet Police Station against Madhavi Latha under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132… pic.twitter.com/mu1AGK5dAs
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RS Chairman accepts merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP
New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the Upper House to three.
After this transition, the BJP's strength in the Upper House has increased to 113.
Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta are the seven MPs who have merged.
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The Rajya Sabha website now shows that the seven MPs are part of the BJP list of members.
The seven MPs had on Friday petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman to be treated as BJP MPs after the merger and the same has been accepted, sources said.
The AAP had on Sunday moved a petition before the RS Chairman seeking the termination of the membership of the seven MPs, who had switched sides.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said he has submitted a petition to Chairman Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven party MPs in the Upper House, who recently quit the AAP and announced their merger with the BJP.
On Friday last, the AAP suffered a jolt when the seven Rajya Sabha MPs quit and announced merger with the BJP, alleging that the Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
