Bhind (Madhya Pradesh): Re-polling was held on Tuesday at booth number 71 Secondary Government Building Kishupura of Ater assembly constituency of Bhind district. Out of 1223 voters here, only 577 voted, till 6 pm, that is, 47.1 per cent. On November 17, 89 per cent votes were cast here.
District Election Officer Sanjeev Srivastava said that the mock poll process started from 5.30 am, one-and-a-half hours before the start of voting. In Ater, BJP has fielded minister Arvind Singh Bhadauria. Hemant Katare is contesting the elections for Congress. A total of 38 candidates are in the fray. Of these, 30 independents are contesting the elections.
During voting on November 17, some people had entered the polling booth. They influenced polling by threatening voters and collecting ballot slips. The complaint was made by the presiding officer. Four employees were suspended in the matter. At the same time, on the complaint of presiding officer Satish Kumar, a case was registered against Satendra Bhadauria and Santosh Bhadauria and two other unknown people at Surpura police station.
Decision on re-polling made after VIDEO went viral
There is a direct contest between Arvind Singh Bhadauria and Hemant Katare for the Ater assembly seat. SP candidate Munna Singh Bhadauria is originally a resident of Kishupura village. After the voting on November 17, a video went viral on social media. In the video, a person was seen standing near the EVM. After investigation, the Commission had decided to go for re-polling here.
BJP had accused the officer and Congress of collusion
The BJP had demanded the Chief Election Commissioner to conduct re-polling at 16 polling stations of Ater assembly constituency. The BJP delegation had also given a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. It alleged that the presiding officers in collusion with Congress workers, had influenced the electoral process. Many voters were discouraged and deprived of voting.
The party presiding officers and their teams posted at booth numbers 11, 12 Khadit, 17, 41 Niwari, 48 Badpura, 49 Badpuri, 55, 67, 69, 70, 71 Kisupura, 103 Manepura, 169 Pitampura, 170, 171, 211 Bisalpur are accused of influencing the electoral process by colluding with Congress workers.
