Gujarat assembly bypolls: EC orders re-polling at two booths in Visavadar

Ahmedabad, Jun 20 (PTI) The Election Commission has ordered repolling on Saturday at two polling stations in Visavadar assembly constituency in Gujarat, with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) complaining of bogus voting and booth capturing.

Junagadh collector and district election officer Anil Ranavasiya said on Friday that repolling was ordered due to "disruption" during voting, not due to bogus voting or booth capturing as claimed by the AAP.

Bypolls to Visavadar in Junagadh and Kadi in Mehsana districts of Gujarat were held on Thursday, with Kadi seat registering an estimated turnout of 57.9 per cent and Visavadar 56.8 per cent.

The ECI issued a notification on Friday ordering repolling at Malida and Nava Vaghaniya polling stations in Visavadar constituency between 6 am and 7 pm on Saturday.

Without assigning any particular reason, it said the decision was taken "on the basis of a report submitted by the Returning Officer and Observer and after taking all material circumstances into account".

Gujarat AAP's spokesperson Karan Barot claimed that the decision was taken after the party submitted a complaint about bogus voting and booth capturing to the local election authorities in Junagadh.

In a video message, Gopal Italia, the AAP candidate for Visavadar, claimed that at least 10 villages registered 10 to 30 per cent higher voting turnout than the average 57 per cent turn-out of the entire constituency.

Speaking to reporters in Visavadar, Italia said he attended a meeting called by the election officials for the scrutiny of form 17A, which provides booth-wise break up of voting, on Friday, and noticed that several villages had clocked unusually high turnout.

"At Nava Vaghaniya, 71 per cent turn-out was recorded. At one booth, over 85 per cent turn-out was recorded. I told the officials that bogus voting was the reason. My demand for CCTV footage was rejected citing some rules," he said.

When contacted, collector Ranavasiya refuted the allegations.

"As per the Returning Officer's report, some persons approached these polling stations during voting and insisted on exercising their right by showing a photo of their voter ID card in mobile phones instead of producing a card. When officials refused to entertain them, they created a ruckus, which disrupted the voting process," he said.

"Thus, repolling has been ordered because of the disruption, not because of any law and order situation such as booth capturing or bogus voting," he said.

The Visavadar seat was vacant since December 2023 after then AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

While the BJP fielded Kirit Patel for the bypoll, the Congress gave ticket to Nitin Ranpariya and AAP to its former Gujarat unit president Gopal Italia. PTI PJT KA PD KRK