Political parties muscle in on ‘bahubullies’ to wrestle votes. With the elections around the corner, various political parties are looking to add new members to their teams — the bahubalis or pahalwans — only to “bully” or “threaten” the voters.
The Intelligence inputs received by the Delhi Police have revealed that wrestlers and rowdies would be hired by some political parties to create a ruckus in the coming Assembly elections.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has been informed about the same, which is likely to hold a meeting of IG/DIG/SPs of neighbouring districts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to direct them on keeping a close watch on the movement of such elements.
To keep the law and order situation under control, the Delhi Police will keep a vigil on akharas in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. After receiving specific inputs, police have also identified those acting as conduits between these elements and the political parties in Delhi. Officials said that Haryana has the maximum number of akharas and hiring of the musclemen is in full swing in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi.
The leaders of political parties often use them for threatening the voters. “Constituencies — like Bawana, Tughalakabad, Badarpur, Narela and Okhla — which are on the border areas are more prone to using pahalwans during the elections.
Najafgarh and Bawana are considered the breeding ground for criminal activities,” said an official, adding such activities do take place during elections and musclemen are generally hired to influence and bully the voters. “The advantage of hiring these pahalwans from outside the Capital is that they are not known faces. The known faces sometimes lead to negative publicity as they do not have a clean image in the area,” said a senior police official.
A list of young wrestlers would be prepared and their past records would be scanned, officials added. Further, elections are considered a money-minting time for these wrestlers. The wrestlers are paid for just standing behind the candidate and indirectly intimidating them.
“Strict vigilance will be maintained on the borderline areas and incidents, wherein musclemen are observed to be involved with any political party, will be strictly dealt with,” said Special Commissioner of Police (law and Order) Deepak Mishra.