BJP's Sanjeev Balyan alleges fake voting in Muzaffarnagar, demands 'faces in Burqa' checked
As the voting in eight constituencies of Uttar Pradesh are on going in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Sanjeev Balyan has alleged that ‘fake voting’ might be taking place in Muzaffarnagar over the burqa clad women.
The polling which began today at 7 am, has been deployed by heavy security personnel at every polling booth, but Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan has courted controversy by claiming that “Burqa wearing women’s face must be checked.”
“Faces of women in burkhas are not being checked and I allege that fake voting is being done. If not looked into, I will demand a repoll,” said Balyan.
Union Minister and Muzaffarnagar BJP candidate Dr. Sanjiv Balyan: Faces of women in burkhas are not being checked and I allege that fake voting is being done. If not looked into, I will demand a repoll pic.twitter.com/Gphlm2NoRx
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 11, 2019
Earlier, the UP’s Chief Electoral Officer had sought a report from the District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar as Balyan has been alleged to have violated the poll code by “threatening voter” at a public rally in the district.
Sanjeev Balyan has been accused of inflating the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, although none of the charges were proved in the court of law. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Balyan had defeated Bahujan Samaj Party’s Kadir Rana by 4,01,150 votes as the former bagged 6,53,391 votes and Rana settled for 2,52,241 votes.
The Muzaffarnagar constituency has five assembly segments which includes Budhana, Charthawal, Muzaffarnagar, Khatauli and Sardhana.
The Western UP is dominated by the Jat community and the contest of Muzaffarnagar has been dwindled as Rashtriya Lok Dal’s chief Ajit Singh is contesting from the seat, which might be a cliffhanger in the process of election. The result of 2019 polls will be released on May 23.
Also read: Alpesh Thakor quits Congress, day before polls; denies joining BJP
First published: 11 April 2019, 11:12 IST