Row Over Viral Video That Shows UP Teen Voting 8 Times For BJP Candidate

A video from Uttar Pradesh, in which a youngster is seen voting for the BJP candidate as many as eight times, went viral and sparked a row as 49 Lok Sabha seats voted in the fifth phase of the general election.

In the video, a youngster is seen voting on an Electronic Voting Machine and recording the act. He presses the button next to the name of Mukesh Rajput, sitting MP and BJP candidate in Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat that voted on May 13. Moments later, the youngster is in the cubicle again, saying on camera, "This is number 2". After another round of voting, he says, "This was the third".

In this manner, the video captures the youngster voting eight times. One of the frames also shows him in a different shirt. The thumb of his left hands is inked, suggesting that he may have used it to rub off the indelible ink used to identify a voter who has already voted.

According to some reports, the young man in the video is a minor. It is not clear how he managed to bypass the scrutiny of poll officials as many as seven times. An FIR has been registered and he has been taken into custody. The Chief Electoral Officer, UP, Navdeep Rinwa, said all members of the polling party would be suspended and a repoll in the polling station has been recommended.

Senior police officer Dhananjay Singh Kushwaha has told news agency AFP that the young man admitted to voting eight times.

Sharing the viral video, Congress Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP is staring at defeat and "wants to loot democracy by pressuring the government machinery".

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also shared the video on X, with a post, "If the Election Commission thinks something wrong has happened, it must act. Otherwise, BJP's booth committee is loot committee".