The Samajwadi party on Monday alleged forcible arrest of their party workers in the Tiwari assembly constituency amid the phase four Lok Sabha election. In a post on X, the party claimed that the Thathiya police had forcibly arrested several Samajwadi Party from booth numbers 447,448 and 449.
Samajwadi party has brought the issue to the attention of the Election Commission. “Election Commission should take cognizance and ensure fair voting,” they wrote.
कन्नौज लोकसभा के तिर्वा विधानसभा में बूथ संख्या 447, 448, 449 से ठठिया पुलिस ने समाजवादी पार्टी के कई कार्यकर्ताओं को जबरन किया गिरफ्तार।
संज्ञान ले चुनाव आयोग, निष्पक्ष मतदान सुनिश्चित हो।@ecisveep @ceoup @dm_kannauj
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) May 13, 2024
However, denying the claim raised by the party, the Kannauj police replied to the post stating that the polling was progressing smoothly. “Election Commission should take cognizance and ensure fair voting,” they wrote on X.
थाना प्रभारी ठठिया द्वारा अवगत कराया गया है कि समाजवादी पार्टी के किसी भी कार्यकर्ता को गिरफ्तार नही किया गया है। मतदान सुचारू रूप से चल रहा है।
— kannauj police (@kannaujpolice) May 13, 2024
Kannauj is one of the 80 parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and it encompasses five assembly seats. The seat has been a stronghold of the Samajwadi party since 1998. In 2019, there was a political shift when the Bharatiya Janata Party won the seat.
Akhilesh Yadav is fielded as the SP candidate and is set to contest from the SP bastion to reclaim the seat he had previously registered a hat-trick win. Subrat Pathak, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party stands as the lone torchbearer for the party.
The fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election is underway in 96 constituencies, across nine states and a Union Territory. Polling will be held in all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, all 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal and one in Jammu and Kashmir.