Police and election officials intervened to bring the situation under control. Muzaffarnagar : A dispute between Samajwadi Party and BJP workers led to a brief ruckus at the DAV College polling centre in Muzaffarnagar on Friday during polling for the Meerut-Saharanpur teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies of the legislative council.
The situation escalated after Agarwal said he was also the chief election agent of the BJP candidate, to which SP workers objected. Nobody can remove me,” Agarwal said, adding that people who had come to vote had gathered behind him and that he could not be held responsible for their presence. Mishra said the election was being conducted in accordance with the Election Commission’s instructions and that officials were monitoring the process and would ensure that polling remained peaceful. Earlier reporting noted: Speaking to the media after casting his vote, Yadav claimed that the ruling party appeared “despondent and frustrated”. Yadav alleged that the ruling party deployed “goons and corrupt officials” to obstruct SP supporters and engage in fraudulent voting. “The public stands against the BJP and will ensure its defeat by casting every single vote against it,” the SP chief claimed. Earlier reporting noted: The SP leader also alleged that the BJP was “dismantling democracy” through vote theft and rigging and was “fundamentally opposed to both democracy and the Constitution”.
The incident allegedly began when state minister Kapil Dev Agarwal arrived at the centre to cast his vote. SP workers, led by the party’s Muzaffarnagar district president, Zia Chaudhary, alleged that the minister entered the polling centre with his supporters. Agarwal accused SP workers of creating the disturbance, saying that he had merely objected to their conduct and that opposition workers had started shouting. “I am here to cast my vote and am also the chief election agent. I will remain here until evening. Chaudhary repeatedly urged officials to remove the minister from the polling centre. Police personnel intervened and pacified both sides, while district magistrate Umesh Mishra also reached the centre and reviewed the situation.
Earlier reporting noted: UP MLC polls: Akhilesh casts vote, alleges electoral malpractice Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday cast his vote for the legislative council election for the Agra-Aligarh graduates’ constituency at Saifai in Etawah district even as he accused the BJP of large-scale electoral malpractice.