In the video, Vijay Bhabhor can be heard saying in Gujarati that “machine apnu baap nu che (machine belongs to my father)”.A BJP leader and a polling agent have been arrested after the former livestreamed from inside a polling booth in Gujarat‘s Dahod on May 7, the day the country voted in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The accused has been identified as BJP leader Jasvantsinh Bhabhor’s son Vijay Bhabhor.
Vijay Bhabhor livestreamed from the polling booth at Santrampur taluka in Mahisagar district on his Instagram account but later deleted the video after it was widely circulated.
In the video, Vijay can be heard using abusive language as he voted for the Lok Sabha polls. He is purportedly saying in Gujarati that “machine apnu baap nu che (machine belongs to my father)”.
The video shows Bhabhor focusing the camera on the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machine while requesting five to ten minutes from a poll official, even when asked to leave. Bhabhor then declares, “Only the BJP works here…Only Vijay Bhabhor works here.”
A polling agent was seen encouraging him, while the staff at the booth appealed to both of them to maintain calm.
While the BJP has distanced itself from the controversy, Congress’ Dahod pick and former MP Prabhaben Kishorsinh Taviyad filed a complaint with the state election authorities. Taviyad has also demanded fresh polling in the constituency.
Congress’ Gujarat spokesperson Manish Doshi alleged the BJP has “snatched the voting rights of the people.”
“What kind of polling arrangement is this? This is a criminal act, and we want the Election Commission to investigate this strictly,” Doshi said.
He also said there were several complaints of voters being stopped from entering booths at different places and sought a report on the matter from the local officials of the Election Commission.
“We demand that there should be repolling on that booth and all those booths where the BJP is trying to do booth capturing. Not only that, the polling officer and the police deployed at that booth should also be investigated and action must be taken,” Doshi told reporters.
Dahod is a reserved Lok Sabha seat for Scheduled Tribes where Congress candidate Taviyad is up against BJP’s Jasvantsinh Bhabhor. Bhabhor is eyeing a third consecutive term from Dahod.
Mahisagar Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja told the media, “Action is being taken based on the FIR by the presiding officer under the Representative of the People Act for bogus voting.”
“Bhabhor went to the poll 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, amounting to bogus voting,” he added.