LS polls
Controversy erupts after video seems to show BJP leader's minor son cast vote
New Delhi/IBNS: A massive controversy has erupted after a video emerged online Wednesday that seems to show a minor boy casting a vote on behalf of his father, a BJP leader, during the Lok Sabha Election in Berasia in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal.
According to reports, the boy is the son of Vinay Mehar, a Bharatiya Janata Party panchayat leader, and he accompanied his father, who seemed to have taken the video during voting on Tuesday.
He cast the vote on his father's behalf on the EVM.
The 14-second video, reportedly shared on the BJP leader's Facebook page, was flagged by the media advisor of Congress leader Kamal Nath.
The video shows the boy and the father in the booth and pressing a button on the EVM linked to the lotus, the BJP's poll symbol.
The camera then pans to show the vote being registered by the VVPAT, or Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machine, after which Mehar is heard saying, "Ok. That is enough now."
Questions have been raised on how a mobile phone was allowed into the polling booth, and why the child was permitted to accompany his father into the booth.
"BJP has turned the Election Commission into a child's plaything. In Bhopal, the BJP's district panchayat member Vinay Mehar got his minor son to cast his vote. Vinay Mehar also made a video of the time when he cast his vote. Vinay Mehar posted the video on Facebook."
"Will there be any action?" Piyush Babele, whose X handle describes him as a media advisor in the office of former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, said as he shared the video online.
The Election Commission has not yet responded to the video.
The video has been acknowledged by district officials.
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