Looking to turn the tables in the Congress bastion of Amethi, BJP nominee and union minister Smriti Irani on Monday accused her rival and Congress president Rahul Gandhi of ''booth capturing in connivance with'' local poll officials.
Smriti Irani, in a Twitter post, alleged that a polling official ''forced'' an old woman to press the 'Hand' (Congress symbol) button inside the polling booth though she ''wanted'' to vote for the BJP.
She also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC).
Taking cognisance of the complaint, the EC removed the concerned polling official, who was deployed at a polling booth in Gauriganj in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. ''An investigation has also been launched into the matter,'' said an official in Amethi.
Smriti, who had unsuccessfully contested against Rahul in 2014 LS polls, also alleged the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital at Munshiganj in the constituency of which Rahul was among the trustees, ''refused'' to treat a man there despite the fact that he had an 'Ayushman' health card saying that it did not recognise cards issued by the Modi government.
''Rahul must reply....what kind of politics is this?'' Irani said.
She also launched a scathing attack on Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying that the latter had uttered her (Smriti) name more than the name of her (Priyanka) husband.
''Priyanka has been camping here for the past several days to ensure the win for Rahul....she never cared to visit Amethi in the past five years,'' she said.
Polling was held in Amethi on Monday.
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