Madhavi Latha
Hyderabad BJP candidate booked for asking women voters to lift burqa for ID check
The Hyderabad Police have registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Hyderabad Parliament constituency candidate Madhavi Latha after she allegedly trespassed into a polling station and asked Muslim voters to remove their burqa and reveal their identity.
Based on a direction from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner, Ronald Rose, who is also the returning officer for Hyderabad LS constituency, the Malakpet police registered a case against Madhavi Latha under Sections 171C (voluntarily interfering in the exercise of electoral right), 186 (voluntarily obstructing a public servant from discharging of duties) and 505 (1)(c) (circulation of a statement with an intent to incite a class or community) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act, Hindustan Times reported.
Meanwhile, a video has gone viral on the social media where the candidate could be seen asking women candidates to remove their burqa and reveal identity.
She was apparently seeking to verify whether the faces of the women voters tallied the images on their Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), the newspaper reported.
The candidates do not have the right to check the identity of the candidates.
It is the act of the polling officials to ensure the identity of the voters.
“I am a candidate, and every candidate has the right to verify the credentials of the voters who were wearing face masks or burqa,” the candidate told reporters as quoted by Hindustan Times.
India voted in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday.
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