Two BJP men held for casting bogus vote, live-streaming in Gujarat

Vadodara: Two members of the BJP were arrested in Gujarat’s Mahisagar district for allegedly involved in bogus voting and livestreaming the act on Facebook, The Indian Express reported.

One of the accused identified as Vijay Bhabhor, 28, was seen entering polling area of a booth in Prathampur under the Dahod Lok Sabha constituency, and he fidgeted with the electronic voting machine resisting election officials’ warnings.

Bhabhor said at the time: “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)…”

The Congress alleged the accused visited 25 polling stations and committed bogus voting in the Gothib taluka panchayat in Santrampur as well.

Bhabhor was seen encouraging others to vote for ‘lotus’, the BJP’s symbol for the sitting MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor.

Afterwards the man broke into a dance with the electronic voting machine, assuring his accomplice that he was ‘ in control’ of the area.

Mahisagar Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja said the both the men were arrested and charged with sections of the Representation of the People Act and 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),”the officer was quoted as saying.

The Congress’s polling agents lodged complaints with the Santrampur police claiming that the accused conducted bogus voting in 25 polling stations under Gothib taluka panchayat.

Congress agents from multiple other booths have also lodged complaints of bogus voting against them.

The additional electoral registration officer Santrampur Mamlatdar Ishaq Mohammad lodged a complaint at the Santrampur police station saying that the incident came to light as the accused livestreamed while committing bogus voting.

After the incident raked up a controversy, Chief Election Officer P Bharathi reportedly said: ‘Two persons have been arrested in the incident that has come to light and the police have taken action. We have sought a report from the Dahod returning officer. Once the report is available, we will be able to decide the further action regarding the polling in the affected booths.’