Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Section of voters in Maharashtra's Beed turned away from polling booths, villagers claim police 'did nothing': Report

Voters across Parli Assembly segment in Maharashtra's Beed Lok Sabha constituency during the sixth phase of the polling were reportedly prevented from casting their votes, with some of their fingers being inked before they could even reach the ballot machine, as per a report by Scroll.

One person told the publication, "Some goons were drunk and standing outside the booth,” adding, “I recognised one of them. He slapped me and asked me to leave. The police were there but they did nothing.”

Another individual said that he was told to leave the polling station by some men who were allegedly not "election officers". He told Scroll that he was pushed out of the booth.

This particular incident occurred in a polling booth in Sharda Nagar’s Vivek Vardhini primary school in the city of Parli.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and Beed candidate Bajrang Sonawane has written a letter to the Election Commission in this regard. He has said that booths across 33 villages in Parli, three in Kaij, and two in Majalgaon were captured.

In his complaint, Sonowale had also alleged that members of the Muslim community in Dharmapuri as well as voters belonging to backard classes in Jirewadi were prevented from casting their votes.

The publication reports that Sonowane had also backed his letter with 12 videos he had sent to the EC as proof.

Post receiving Sonowane's complaint, the Maharashtara Chief Election Commissioner had asked for a report regarding the same from the district electoral officer, who responded by saying that a repoll was not required in the booths in question.

The officer told the publication, “Whatever videos have been submitted to us do not show instances of booth capturing,” adding, “It only shows crowding in some booths.”

She also said that poll officers who were assigned to these booths also did not report any incidence of malpractise.

The collector has revealed that 50 per cent of the booths were polling was being held were webcast, but said that those cannot be accessed since permission from the EC is required for the same.

The EC rules reveal that the returning officer can access videos of webcasting a day after polling occurs in order to check any discrepancies. The publication reported that Munde did not clarify why she could not access the recording.

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