Assembly poll witnesses many incidents
Bengaluru, May 11: Despite losing a family member, the grief-striking family members reached the polling station and exercised their votes at Naganur in Surapura taluk of Yadgiri district on Saturday and this attracted appreciation from all corners. A family member was died at the house of Somanna of the village. But the family members did not forget their duty of exercising their votes in spite of the situation they were in.
First vote from Halumata
With a belief that casting votes from Halumata (Kuruba) community is a good omen, voters from Kuruba community were allowed to cast their votes in most of the polling stations in Vijayapura district on Saturday. After Kuruba community people exercised their votes, others cast their votes.
From hospital to polling station
A patient Shivaram who was discharged from the hospital, directly went to a polling station and cast his vote. As soon as discharged from KS Hegde Medical College Hospital, Shivaram went to polling station 97 at Boliyar in Mangaluru and exercised his vote.
Dies after voting
Thimme Gowda died soon after he reached his home after casting his vote at Vaddarahalli in Mandya district on Saturday. It is said that Thimme Gowda (55) was suffering from ill-health for some time. In spite of it, he came to polling station and exercised his vote. But soon after he reached his home, he died.
Transgenders cast votes
For the first time, transgenders exercised their votes in the polling stations at Bengaluru CR Raman Nagar constituency and Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district.
Grandson misleads grandma
Though grandmother asked her grandson to vote for palm symbol (Congress), her grandson who accompanied her to help, cast her vote to JDS and it has gone viral in social media triggering a debate.
Photos go viral
Despite a ban on taking photos inside polling stations, the photos of voters who cast their votes to Congress, BJP and JDS candidates went viral in social media and created for and against debates. The voters who exercised their votes for their candidates took photos from mobile phones by overlooking the polling officers and uploaded in facebook and whatsapp groups.
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BJP worker’s 16-year-old son allegedly casts eight votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad; Video viral
Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.
The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.
In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.
The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.
Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.
Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.
The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."
Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.
In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.
The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.
अपनी हार सामने देख कर भाजपा जनादेश को झुठलाने के लिए सरकारी तंत्र पर दबाव बना कर लोकतंत्र को लूटना चाहती है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2024
कांग्रेस चुनावी ड्यूटी कर रहे सभी अधिकारियों से यह अपेक्षा करती है कि वो सत्ता के दबाव के सामने अपनी संवैधानिक ज़िम्मेदारी न भूलें।
वरना INDIA की सरकार बनते ही ऐसी… https://t.co/fk4wXL8QZy
