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Journalism of Courage
POLICE ON Monday filed an FIR against the BJP candidate from Hyderabad constituency, K Madhavi Latha, after a video emerged of her at a polling booth, checking the identity documents of women in burqa and asking them to lift their veil.
District electoral officer Ronald Ross instructed the police to lodge a complaint, following which a case was registered under IPC sections 171C (undue influence at an election), 186 (obstructing public servant), 505(1)(c) (intent to incite) and section 132 of the Representation of the People Act (misconduct at the polling station).
Latha is up against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who won the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat by a sizeable margin in the 2019 polls.
Latha, who visited several polling booths after casting her vote at Amrita Vidyalaya, halted at a booth in Azampur, where she started checking IDs of women waiting to vote. In the video, she can be seen asking two burqa-clad women to lift their veil, which they do.
Latha also warned polling officials to allow voting only after properly checking ID cards.
She later claimed that there were discrepancies in the voter list and that the names of several voters were missing. “90% of the booths are compromised. Police do not want to instruct female constables to check the face (and match) with the voter ID,” she claimed. She also said that as a candidate, she has the right to check the ID of anyone with their face covered.
Latha is not new to controversy. On April 17, a video purportedly showed her symbolically shooting an arrow in the direction of a mosque during a RamNavami rally. She later apologised and claimed the video clip was incomplete.
As the video went viral on social media, Latha wrote on X, “It has come to my notice that one video of mine is being circulated in the media to create negativity. I would like to clarify that it is an incomplete view and even because of such a video, if anyone’s sentiments are hurt, I would like to apologise as I respect all individuals.”
In Telangana, brisk voting started at 7 am for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies. Over 62 per cent polling was recorded in Telangana.
In the Assembly elections held last November, the Congress had swept to power winning 64 seats while the BRS won 39, BJP 8 and AIMIM 7.
