Who really voted in Mewat? Probe on after complaints of bogus voting

Days after the Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency went to polls on 10 April, Gandhi Fellowship Program director Vivek Sharma, who also worked closely with Aam Aadmi Party candidate Yogendra Yadav’s campaign, posted on his Facebook page that Mewat district stands testimony to “large-scale booth capturing, duplicitous and dishonest double-crossing of democracy”.

Yadav had already complained to the CEC about alleged rigging in 110 polling stations, though the party lacked evidence to back up the complaint. Women did not vote in Mewat, Sharma wrote in his Facebook post republished on Firstpost .

Political goons gave orders, he wrote, while young Meo men were “cast aside”.

Mewat district in Haryana falls within the boundaries of the Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency. District headquarter Nuh recorded a 78 percent voter turnout.

A detailed report in The Indian Express now says that the 78 percent mark is incredulous – given not many adults in the area have the indelible ink mark on their fingers despite the high turnout.

“This has lent credence to allegations of largescale poll rigging. Rehna, as well as many villages in Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana, are now under the Election Commission’s scanner for alleged booth capturing and bogus voting,” the report says.

It quotes Deputy Election Commissioner Alok Shukla as saying the complaints have been forwarded for inquiries, even as villager after villager the newspaper spoke to came up with various reasons for not having the ink mark.

One said he removed the ink mark because his religion does not allow him to offer namaaz with any paint on his body. Another said the mark dimmed and disappeared slowly over the days since polling.

Tellingly, the report found villagers willing to admit that elections in Mewat have always been “this way”. One man is allowed to cast 40 to 50 votes, another local alleged.

Mewat has seen simmering communal tension since polling day, with clashes reported between Meo Muslim supporters of the INLD and alleged BJP workers. A day after polling, police discovered the body of a man named Wajid who had been shot dead. Police first said the killing was not connected to the clashes, but nevertheless despatched senior police officers to camp in the Punhana tehsil where the flare-up occurred.