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A delegation from the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, on Monday, 2 September, called on the District Collector to act on a purported video showing two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders claiming that "they did not allow Congress polling agents to sit at multiple booths in the district" and that one of them "cast 15 bogus votes and could have been jailed for forgery" during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The 37-second video, circulating on the social media platform X, shows BJP leaders and workers gathered to greet Member of Parliament (MP) from Sagar and party leader Lata Wankhede.
While arguing in the MP's presence, one person in the crowd claimed, "Lok Sabha ka chunaav hua. Maine aur humaari poori team ne Lateri mein Congress party ke polling agents nahi baithne diye 13 polling booths pe." (During the Lok Sabha election, my team and I did not let Congress party polling agents sit at at least 13 polling booths.)
In response, another person in the crowd said, "15 vote maine daalein hain. Farzi tareeke se matdaan humne kiya tha, jail jaate toh hum jaate." (I cast 15 votes. We committed forgery, and we could have been jailed for it.)
BJP Leader Claims 'Video is Edited'
The purported video is from Lateri town in the Sagar Lok Sabha constituency, and the BJP leaders seen in the video are Attu Bhandari and Mahesh Sahu.
Attu, who can be heard claiming that he, along with his men, did not allow Congress agents at the polling booths, is the husband of BJP leader and Lateri City Council Chief Shailesh Bhandari.
"The video is fake and edited," Attu claimed to The Quint when questioned about his statements. "The Congress lost the election and is now using these cheap tactics. There is no truth in the video. It is completely fabricated," he said.
Mahesh Sahu, who in the video can be heard admitting that he cast 15 votes and could have gone to jail for it, was unavailable for comment. Sahu's wife is also a councillor in Lateri.
What Led to The Argument?
A six-minute, 49-second version of the video, uploaded on Facebook by social activist and advocate Suneel Kumar, shows that BJP members had gathered to welcome Lata Wankhede, the party MP from the Sagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Wankhede won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of over 4 lakh votes, according to results declared on 4 June.
According to the longer version of the video, upon Wankhede's arrival, one person voiced concern about the MP's schedule, which allegedly included meetings with Congress party workers. The lack of access to the MP had caused several workers to feel agitated. One of them questioned, "Where were these people (who prepared Wankhede's schedule) during the Lok Sabha election?"
Soon, everyone in the crowd began citing their contributions to Wankhede's Lok Sabha victory. These claims led Attu Bhandari and Mahesh Sahu to assert that they had captured booths and cast multiple votes to "ensure her victory."
'Murder of Democracy,' Says Congress
In their complaint to the District Collector, the Congress party delegation demanded that the election results from the constituency be declared invalid.
"The admissions by BJP leaders in the video regarding booth capturing and bogus voting suggest that the party may have used similar methods at several booths across the constituency. We demand that the election results in Sagar be declared invalid and that strict action be taken against the culprits," stated the complaint letter signed by party functionaries, including Chandrabhushan Singh Bundela — the party candidate from Sagar who lost the election to Wankhede.
Speaking to The Quint, Bundela alleged that the claims made in the video have completely exposed the BJP.
"The viral video shows how the BJP has undermined democracy. We have submitted a complaint to the District Collector and demanded a fresh election in the constituency. If the Election Commission does not take action, we will appeal to the High Court," Bundela said.
(The Quint has reached out to the Election Commission of India for a response. This story will be updated as and when we hear from them.)
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