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Lok Sabha polls: Mewat sees stray violence, bogus voting; Ajay Yadav says will ask for repoll

MEWAT: Several villages of Mewat and Sohna witnessed stray incidents of violence during polling on Sunday and at least one presiding officer was booked for allegedly influencing voters at a booth . By late evening, Mewat had recorded a turnout of over 70%, higher than Gurgaon and Badshapur.


There were reports of BJP and Congress workers coming to blows outside polling booths.

Three FIRs were registered in Chilawali, Sahsola Patti and Tundalka for “exercising undue influence and creating nuisance”. In Rewasan village , an FIR was registered against a presiding officer for allegedly telling people who to vote for. A presiding officer in Tundalka was also booked for allegedly fleeing a booth.

Congress candidate Captain Ajay Yadav , who is banking on Meo votes to turn the prospects in his favour, got into an argument with a BJP worker inside a booth in Chandaka. The argument followed allegations that two Congress supporters — Jamil Khan and Zubair — had not been allowed to cast their votes.

Yadav reached the booth around 3pm and asked why no Congress agent was there. “We had placed a polling agent in this booth and now he is not there. This is a clear case of booth capturing. I will approach the Election Commission and request for a repoll,” he said.

Alam Mundal, the BJP worker who got into an argument with Yadav, said there was no Congress agent in the booth since morning. BJP spokesperson Raman Malik said, “Mewat is a notorious area and wherever our polling agents sensed a problem, they raise an issue.”

A few kilometres away in Rewasan, two FIRs were registered against Mohammad Shahid, the presiding officer — one for allegedly influencing voters and another for keeping the booth locked for some time.

In a booth in Neemka village, the presiding officer, Gajender Verma, was allegedly beaten up by a group of villagers after he refused to allow a youth to cast his vote on the basis of his Class 10 marksheet. Police had to call for additional force to quell the violence.

There were a few instances of ghost voting. In Malab, Shabnam Begum travelled 20km to the booth and found that her vote had already been cast. There was a similar case in Nai Nagala. In the same village, a man allegedly voted for three women as poll officials looked the other way. Asked about the overall voting, deputy commissioner Pankaj said: “We had everything under control. Action has been taken wherever required.”

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