Dahod: A voter turnout of 69.93 per cent was recorded in the repolling held in Parthampura booth under Dahod Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat on Saturday after the Election Commission declared the May 7 voting as null and void as a man had live-streamed the process from this booth.
Voting began at the booth amid tight security at 7 am, and a turnout of 69.93 per cent was recorded till 6pm, which comes to 856 voters out of the total 1,224 in the booth, a statement by the Election Commission said after voting ended.
No untoward incident was recorded during the repolling, it added.
Parthampur falls under Santrampur taluka of Mahisagar district and is part of the Dahod (Scheduled Tribe-reserved) Lok Sabha seat.
Prabha Taviad is the Congress candidate in the Dahod constituency. She is pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party’s incumbent MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor.
The EC had declared as null and void the May 7 voting and ordered repolling at the Parthampur booth after man live-streaming voting from inside the booth went viral on social media.
Four election officials, including a presiding officer, an assistant presiding officer and two polling officers as well a police constable were suspended in connection with the incident.
To avoid any unwarranted situation, police personnel were deployed in large numbers in and around Parthampur village, while the district collector, superintendent of police and poll observer were also present to oversee the voting process.
The Congress had lodged a complaint with the EC about “booth capturing” and “bogus voting” by submitting a copy of the viral video, and demanded repolling.
The accused, Vijay Bhabhor, had stayed in the polling booth for five minutes, during which he went live on Instagram and also allegedly cast votes on behalf of two other electors, resorting to bogus voting, officials said.
The video showed Vijay Bhabhor purportedly focusing the camera on EVM (electronic voting machine) and VVPAT (voter verifiable paper audit trail) machine and seeking five to ten minutes from a poll official even when he is asked to leave.
Bhabhor purportedly also said that “only the BJP works here”. His accomplice was also seen in the video.
“The machine belongs to my father. Only one thing works – that is BJP,” says Bhabhor before pressing a button on the EVM, as per the video. “Only Vijay Bhabhor works here,” he purportedly says. He was later held on the charge of bogus voting.
The EC later ordered that fresh polling be held at the booth on Saturday.
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