Sonipat (Haryana): Vinod has been distraught since his spouse Guniya handed away practically 4 years in the past, forsaking three youngsters. “She handed away on March 1, 2022 after struggling a mind haemorrhage. We’re nonetheless struggling to come back to phrases along with her loss,” the 37-year-old Mursal resident stated, standing beneath a portrait draped in a wreath.
The household unexpectedly got here into the general public highlight at a press convention held by opposition chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Congress leaders displayed a portion of the voters’ record for Rai Meeting constituency in Haryana and claimed that the photograph of a Brazilian lady was used for 22 completely different voters, together with Guniya.
In Vinod’s modest house, about 6 km from Nationwide Freeway 44, the place glittering dhabas are buzzing across the clock, all of Guniya’s papers are fastidiously stacked inside an previous suitcase.
Vinod pulled out paperwork one after the other, together with dying certificates, Aadhaar playing cards, and voter IDs that he stated he used to vote within the 2019 parliamentary and Sabah elections. Her voter ID, which bears the identical EPIC quantity printed towards her title within the voter record proven by Gandhi, additionally carries her appropriate {photograph}.
“We do not understand how that photograph (of the Brazilian lady) was mixed along with her title on the voter record after her dying,” he stated. Along with Guniya’s household, ThePrint has established contact with 9 of the 22 ladies.Gandhi’s revelations, both instantly or by household and neighbors, have been discovered to warrant a deeper investigation by the authorities.
Give it some thought. Three ladies who have been discovered dwelling at addresses listed in distinction to their names on the voters’ register declare they’d no issues voting, regardless of their photographs not matching.
One particular person complains that she voted, however somebody created a reproduction ID in her title. The 2 have moved elsewhere however declare they got here again to vote. Two different migrants declare they didn’t vote, and in a single case villagers declare the lady modified her identification after separating from her first husband.
“They primarily goal ladies who’ve moved away from their registered addresses. In Haryana, most conventional ladies in villages nonetheless disguise their faces in public, even throughout polling days. There’s a good probability that votes have been fraudulently solid within the names of girls who’ve died or moved elsewhere,” alleged Rakesh Sauda, a Sonipat-based Haryana Congress chief who was concerned within the Gandhi rooting.
Of the six ladies who reportedly voted within the October 2024 Haryana Meeting elections, their names have been paired with a photograph of a Brazilian lady within the voter record. They’re Pinky and Munish Devi from Makroli village in Sonipat, Sweety and Manjit from Keri Manajat village and Anju and Bimla from Akbarpur Barot.
Whereas Pinky stated he used his Aadhaar card to vote with none downside, Munish’s brother-in-law Sunil Antil, who lives in Sonipat city, claimed that he went again and voted. Each males claimed that the photographs on their voter playing cards didn’t match, however that the Brazilian lady’s photograph didn’t.
Sweety, a resident of Keri Manajat, additionally stated she didn’t face any problem whereas voting. Her voter ID, issued on December 19, 2012, has a photograph of herself.
Manjit, who lives in the identical village, was away for a marriage when ThePrint visited him on Friday, however his brother-in-law Sunil stated he had voted and confirmed him his voter card, which additionally had the proper photograph.
Anju, a voter from Akbarpur Bharota village, stated he had since moved elsewhere however got here again to vote throughout the meeting elections. Her brother-in-law is a ward MP belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Celebration. In an interview with The Print on Friday, Anju claimed she had voted, however her sister Rekha advised media the day earlier than that she had not really voted.
Bimla, a resident of the identical village whose title can be on the record shared by Mr Gandhi, stated she had voted however a close-by polling station had a reproduction voter card along with her title on it. Her son Pradeep supported Gandhi’s claims and demanded an investigation, however her husband Ramesh Kumar dismissed the fees.
Saroj’s household, who’re additionally registered voters in Akbarpur Bharota, stated he moved to Bhiwani just a few years in the past and has not voted within the village since then. They categorical shock at the truth that her title stays on the voter record and that it’s mixed with a photograph of a Brazilian lady.
In Mursal, villagers requested about Rashmi, whose title appeared on the village’s voter record together with a photograph of a Brazilian lady, and stated she was stated to have gone into hiding after leaving her husband and marrying one other household. In Nahari village, the place Satyavati, one other of the 22 ladies on Gandhi’s record, is registered, villagers say she not lives there.
(Edited by Manat Chu)
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