The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): On Wednesday, a Delhi BJP delegation met with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to request proper verification of women voters wearing burqas or face masks during the May 25 polling. The delegation emphasized that this measure is necessary to prevent “anti-social and anti-democratic elements” from rigging the election in Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats.
The delegation’s demand follows a recent controversy involving BJP candidate Madhavi Latha from Hyderabad, who was booked by election authorities for allegedly making burqa-clad voters show their faces for verification.
The Delhi BJP representatives, including MLAs Ajay Mahawar and Mohan Singh Bisht, state secretary Kishan Sharma, and lawyer Neeraj Gupta, handed over a memorandum to the Delhi CEO. The memorandum called for thorough verification of burqa-clad women voters by female officials at polling booths.
Mahawar stressed the importance of measures to prevent any form of fake voting. The memorandum requested the deployment of adequate female polling officers and female security personnel at every polling booth to verify the identities of women wearing burqas. This request is made in the interest of ensuring election integrity, particularly in constituencies with a high number of burqa-clad women voters.
The BJP delegation stated that a significant number of burqa-clad women visit polling booths to vote, and their identities should be verified through appropriate government-mandated identity cards to prevent bogus voting. They referenced the Election Commission’s (EC) handbook for presiding officers, which outlines the steps to be followed for verifying an elector’s identity.