The video shows the child and his father inside the booth, with the boy pressing a button on the EVM for the BJP.A video has surfaced online, purportedly showing a young boy voting during the Lok Sabha election in Berasia, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The child, reportedly the son of Vinay Mehar, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) panchayat leader, accompanied his father to the polling booth on Tuesday and appeared to cast a vote on his father’s behalf using the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
Questions have been raised regarding the Election Commission’s oversight about how a mobile phone was allowed into the polling booth and how the child was permitted to accompany his father inside the booth.
AltNews journalist Abhishek, who shared the video on X (formerly Twitter), wrote, “BJP leader Vinay Mehar shared a video on social media in which his child is seen pressing the EVM button to vote for the BJP candidate from Bhopal. Is this a joke? Use of mobile phone is prohibited inside polling stations. Be it Assam, Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh, @ECISVEEP sleeps?”
The 14-second video, reportedly posted on the BJP leader’s Facebook page, garnered attention after being highlighted by the media advisor of Congress leader Kamal Nath. It shows the child and his father inside the booth, with the boy pressing a button on the EVM. The subsequent shot shows the VVPAT confirming the vote, followed by Mehar saying, “Ok. That is enough now.”
“BJP has turned the Election Commission into a child’s plaything. In Bhopal, the BJP’s district panchayat member Vinay Mehar got his minor son to cast his vote. Vinay Mehar also made a video of the time when he cast his vote. Vinay Mehar posted the video on Facebook. Will there be any action?” Babele, whose X handle describes him as a media advisor in the office of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, said as he shared the video online.
While the Election Commission has yet to address the matter, district officials have acknowledged the video. District Collector Kaushalendra Vikram Singh has initiated an investigation and suspended Presiding Officer Sandeep Saini. A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against the BJP leader.
The Berasia Assembly segment, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates and one of eight segments constituting the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, is currently held by BJP’s Vishnu Khatre. Bhopla MP Pragya Thakur clinched victory over the Congress’ Digvijaya Singh in the last election. However, the BJP has fielded Alok Sharma against the Congress’ Arun Shrivastava in the ongoing election.
Meanwhile, 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 is BJP MP 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 Election Commission of India has ordered a repoll in the Dahod Lok Sabha seat.