New Delhi: A man from Gujarat’s Mahisagar district has been detained for alleged bogus voting after he had gone live on Instagram from inside a polling booth in Dahod Lok Sabha constituency, when it voted on May 7 in the third phase of Lok Sabha polls.
According to the Congress party, the man, Vijay Bhabhor, is the son of a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and accused him of “insulting democracy” by going live on Instagram from the booth, PTI reported.
The Mahisagar district police arrested Bhabhor and his accomplice following a complaint lodged by the Congress party with the Election Commission with a copy of the video. Although Bhabhor deleted the video after it drew criticism, the clip had gone viral on social media by then.
According to the news agency PTI, Dahod returning officer Nirgude Babanrao said the incident of a man relaying a video live on Instagram after going to a poll booth to cast his vote is being probed. “We have received the video with a complaint and an investigation is underway,” he said.
Mahisagar Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja said the incident took place at a polling booth at Parthampur in Mahisagar district under the Dahod parliamentary constituency. “We have detained two persons and action is being taken based on the FIR registered by the presiding officer under the Representative of the People Act for bogus voting,” Jadeja said.
According to officials, Bhabhor went to the polling booth to cast his vote at 5:49 pm and left by 5:54 pm. In those five minutes, he went live on Instagram and also allegedly cast votes on behalf of two other electors, resorting to bogus voting, said officials.
The viral video shows Bhabhor purportedly focusing his camera on EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) and VVPAT (Voter verifiable paper audit Trail) machine and seeking five to ten minutes from a poll official even when he is asked to leave. Bhabhor purportedly also says that “only the BJP works here”. His accomplice was also seen in the video.
“The machine belongs to my father. Only one thing works – that is BJP,” says Bhabhor before pressing a button on the EVM, as per the video. “Only Vijay Bhabhor works here,” he purportedly says.
The Election Commission has announced repolling on May 11 in Parthampur village, Santrampur Assembly segment of Dahod Lok Sabha constituency, where the incident took place.
