Badaun: BJP’s Lok Sabha Candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun, Sanghmitra Maurya, courted a fresh controversy today by asking the party-workers to caste fake votes if the voters do not turn up. She was speaking at an election meeting with the party-workers in Badaun.
She said, “Not a single vote should go in vain and if some are absent, then it is common everywhere that fake vote is cast… if you get a chance, do take advantage of it… do not do it, but if you get a chance… try to take the real voters to cast their votes but in case… then something can be done in a hidden manner,” she says amidst peals of laughter. The video has gone viral on social media.
Predictably, Maurya has denied the allegations saying that the video is fabricated. She said, “I will never encourage anyone to do farzi (fake) work. What I have said is being shown wrongly. It has been cropped and has been edited. What I have said is that those absent on polling day must be talked to.”
Daughter of the UP Minister for Labour, Employment and Coordination, Swami Prasad Maurya, Sanghmitra had hit headlines last month by saying that she would become a goon if anyone tried to bully the people of Badaun. “If someone resorts to ‘goondaism’ during the election, you should not be afraid because I am a bigger goon and will guard your self-respect,” she had said.
Sanghmitra will contest the elections against the SP candidate Dharmendra Yadav in the third phase of the general election scheduled on April 23.