"FIRs Like Medals": BJP's Madhavi Latha Defends Checking IDs At Poll Booth

BJP's candidate for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, Madhavi Lata, was embroiled in controversy as a video surfaced showing her allegedly checking the identities of Muslim women voters at a polling station, said today that she received information that the presiding officer of the booth had caught a minor girl casting her vote. 

"We got the information that the presiding officer caught a minor girl casting her vote. They are not registering an FIR. They are free to register an FIR on me but not on others. My FIR started from 'Ram Baan'. I am getting FIRs in the form of medals," Ms Latha told news agency ANI. 

This is not the first time that an FIR has been filed against the 35-year-old. Last month, a video of Ms Latha in which she was seen pretending to draw and fire an arrow while near a mosque drew widespread criticism. Later, she denied aiming for the mosque but issued a public apology nonetheless for hurting religious sentiments. 

The BJP leader was on Monday seen in a video requesting burqa-clad women voters to reveal their faces for identification purposes. This action prompted authorities to file an FIR against her. Contesting from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, she defended herself by saying that her actions were merely an attempt to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, alleging that 90 per cent of booths are compromised. 

In response to the allegations, Ms Latha claimed that she was compelled to intervene due to the alleged inaction of the female police officers present at the polling booth. 

"I am a candidate. As per law, the candidate has the right to check the ID cards without the facemasks. I am not a man, I am a woman and with a lot of humbleness, I have only requested them - can I please see and verify with the ID cards? If somebody wants to make a big issue out of it, that means they are scared," she said.

Ms Latha is challenging four-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and BRS pick Gaddam Srinivas Yadav. This marks the first time the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency. 

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Telangana is seen as a three-way showdown between the incumbent Congress, the opposition BRS, and the BJP, featuring a total of 525 candidates. Key battlegrounds include Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Karim Nagar, and Chevella constituencies.