Stone pelting reported in UP constituency

New Delhi: An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP’s Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot. Voting for bypolls in nine assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh picked up pace after a sluggish start, with over 20 per cent voters turning up to exercise their franchise by 11 am.

An incident of stone pelting was reported in Kakroli village during voting for the Meerapur assembly bypoll following a confrontation between two groups. Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Singh told reporters that police promptly reached the spot and dispersed the crowd using “mild force”.

“The situation was brought under control, and voting continues peacefully,” Singh added. It was not immediately clear what caused the confrontation. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Mohammad Arshad told reporters that polling percentage in Kakroli area was low. “The police are harassing voters, not allowing them to step out of their house. They are behaving like enemies of the people,” he alleged. “This is not a people’s election, this is government’s election,” he claimed, adding his party workers were being detained by the police. SP candidate Sumbul Rana also alleged that police were harassing voters in the name of checking their identification cards.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Mithlesh Pal told reporters that she has been informed about people from outside the constituency being called in for “bogus voting”. “These people have been accommodated in Madrasas and schools,” she alleged. Pal also claimed that bogus voting was being done by “women in burqa”.

On SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s remark that policemen should not check ID cards of voters, Pal said they must definitely check it to prevent bogus voting. “All this is happening because of the ‘flexible attitude’ of the police. We have made a complaint but the police are unable to do anything at the moment,” she charged.

Both the SP and the BJP sought the intervention of the Election Commission. The SP president urged the Supreme Court and the EC to take immediate cognisance of alleged voter suppression based on video evidence.