The Lok Sabha elections 2024 are in full swing across the states in India. In a recent viral video on X, showed a youngster allegedly casting vote for a BJP candidate eight times in a row on a EVM machine on Sunday. According to media reports, the youngster, identified as Rajan Singh, shared a two-minute-long video of himself on the social media platform X, where he can be seen voting for BJP candidate Mukesh Rajput from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
As soon as the video hit the internet, many political leaders shared it on their social media handles. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress party's leader Rahul Gandhi were among some who shared the video on X.
However, The Free Press Journal could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
According to media reports, an FIR was filed at the Naya Gaon police station based on a complaint by ARO Prateet Tripathi.
The case has been registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant laws, including IPC Section 171F (offense related to elections), IPC Section 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), Sections 128, 132, and 136 of the Representation of the People Act (related to maintaining the secrecy of voting, fraud at elections, and other election offenses) and others.
In a recent development after the video went viral, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested the youngster. Meanwhile, the Election Commission also looked into the matter and asked the concerned authorities to take immediate action.
"Cognizance of the circulating video has been taken. The concerned District Election Officer has been directed to take prompt and effective action," the Chief Election Officer of Uttar Pradesh said in a post on X.
The whole incident intensified when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to the social media platform X, seeking action from the Election Commission against the incident.
"If the Election Commission feels that this is wrong, they should certainly take some action; otherwise... BJP's booth committee is actually a loot committee," Yadav wrote on X.
Even the Congress party posted the viral video, asking the Election Commission to wake up and take action against the youngster.
"Election Commission, Mr. You are seeing… a boy is voting 8 times. Wake up now," the Congress party wrote in a post on X.
Previous Incident: BJP Leader Faces Legal Action For Filming Son Voting In Berasia
This is not the first time an incident like this has come to light. A BJP leader found himself in troubled waters after he took his minor son inside the voting chamber and let him cast a vote on his behalf during Lok Sabha polling in Berasia on May 10.
Vinay Mehar, the BJP leader who is also a district panchayat member, did not stop there, as he went on to make a video of his son pressing a button on the EVM and then posted the video on his social media page.
The act of Mehar not only invited an FIR against him but also led to the suspension of the presiding officer and his three subordinates.
