Tension ran high in the VVIP Amethi constituency

Tension ran high in the VVIP Amethi constituency during the polling on Wednesday after AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas and BJP candidate Smriti Irani alleged charges of rigging. They were irked over the presence of Congress leaders in booths and the distribution of money to voters.

A report said that at Tharvi polling booth in Jagdishpur Assembly segement, Priti Sahay, secretary of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Youth Congress district president Shesh Nath Singh tried to influence voters inside the booth. This was opposed by BJP candidate Smriti Irani and both the groups exchanged heated words. later, the Congress group left the booth. Irani said that she was authorised to enter the booth but Priti and Shesh Nath were not supposed to enter the booth. She demanded probe into the incident and arrest of both the Congress representatives. She alleged that the Congress workers were distributing money to voters but the authorities had ignored her charges.

The ruling Samajwadi Party is supporting Rahul Gandhi in the elections and even a minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati had silently campaigned for the Congress. Earlier, police had detained two persons of Maharastra for distributing money at Gunnaur village in Musafirkhana area in favour of the Congress.Meanwhile, Congress vice- president and candidate Rahul Gandhi had visited more than 300 polling booths in Amethi since Wednesday morning.  Earlier, AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas also accused Congress workers of indulging in booth-capturing. But the authorities rejected any such report. “Booth-capturing is going on at booth number 42 of Mehmoodpur,” Vishwas alleged on Twitter. In another tweet, he added that information about largescale booth capturing, fake voting and intimidation of workers was pouring in from various places but observers and the district administration refused to acknowledge such complaints.

Senior Congress leader, Deepak Singh, while denying allegations of rigging at any place, claimed that both the main opponents, Smriti Irani and Kumar Vishwas, after finding that they were going to lose their deposits, had tried to create hurdles in the smooth polling in the Amethi constituency. Deepak Singh demanded stern action against both the candidates for violation of the model code of conduct.