On Sunday, while elections are going on at some districts in Uttar Pradesh, The Samajwadi Party had complained that at a certain polling booth in Farukkhabad, the EVM does not contain the ‘cycle’ symbol. Taking Cognizance of the allegation, The Fatehgarh Police has refuted the claims as baseless. One voter had complained that the photo of the candidate whom he had voted was not printed on the VVPAT slip. Samajwadi Party twisted to claim that its bicycle symbol was not present in the said booth.
It is notable that while the photographs of the candidates are printed along with their names and party symbols on the EVM ballot units, the photos are not printed on the VVPAT slips. Only the party symbol is printed on the slip.
On Sunday morning, while assembly elections in the third phase in the state started, the Samajwadi Party Twitter handle levelled multiple alleged mishappenings and discrepancies at different polling stations in Uttar Pradesh. Tweeting about the supposed disappearance of its ‘Cycle symbol’ on the EVM machine at booth number 38 in the village of Kirachan, The Samajwadi party asked the Election commission and district administration to look into the matter.
फर्रुखाबाद विधानसभा 194 बूथ नंबर 38 पर ईवीएम पर साइकिल चुनाव चिन्ह नहीं है चुनाव आयोग और जिला प्रशासन कृपया संज्ञान ले @ECISVEEP @ceoup @DMFarrukhabadUP
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) February 20, 2022
Soon after SP made the allegations, the media started to report the same without verifying the same, alleging serious mismanagement in the elections.
Taking cognizance of the case, the Fatehgarh Police replied back to the party handle on the social media platform. It was found that On booth no. 38, which fell under Amrutpur Police station, a 32-year-old voter named Kuldeep Yadav had complained over a call about the photo of the candidate not being printed on the VVPAT slip. After receiving the complaint, the officials explained to him that the party symbol is printed on the VVPAT slip and not the photo of the candidate. After this, the matter was resolved.
— fatehgarh police (@fatehgarhpolice) February 20, 2022
The Fatehgarh Police has asserted that the case was false and that elections are taking place at the booth in Kirachan in a sound way.
अधिकारीगण मौके पर मौजूद है शेष कुशलता है।
— fatehgarh police (@fatehgarhpolice) February 20, 2022
However, even before the Samajwadi party handle tweeted the information, journalists including Utkarsh Singh and Shyam Meera Singh were seen spreading the fake news without verification.
समाजवादी पार्टी ने आरोप लगाया है कि फ़र्रुख़ाबाद विधानसभा के बूथ नम्बर 38 पर EVM में ‘साइकिल’ का चुनाव चिह्न ही नहीं है. ये तो हद ही हो गई @ECISVEEP
— Utkarsh Singh (@UtkarshSingh_) February 20, 2022
3 खबरें-
— Shyam Meera Singh (@ShyamMeeraSingh) February 20, 2022
-फ़र्रुख़ाबाद विधानसभा के बूथ-38 पर EVM में ‘सपा’ का चिह्न ही नहीं है
-करहल विधानसभा के भागपुर गांव में बूथ-244, 245 पर ग्रामीणों को वोट डालने से रोका जा रहा है
-अमनपुर विधानसभा 101 बूथ नंबर 324 पर सपा के लिए मतदान करने पर रिस्पांस नहीं मिल रहा है.
The Twitter handle of Fatehgarh Police took no time to bust the fake claims by Samajwadi Party handles and journalists who were caught in spreading the news.
At around 11:30 Am in the morning, The Samajwadi Party had made a similar allegation – that in Farukkhabad, on booth no 110, a police inspector named Prabhakar Pawar was not allowing voters to vote.
मतदान केंद्र प्रा0वि0 सोताबहादुरपुर पर एक वोटर को मास्क के लिए टोकने पर वोटर ने पुलिसकर्मी से बहस की थी,किसी प्रकार से मतदान केंद्र पर मतदान प्रभावित नहीं है ना ही किसी प्रकार से किसी को मतदान से रोका टोका जा रहा है लगाए गए आरोप असत्य एवं निराधार है मतदान सुचारू रूप से चल रहा है।
— fatehgarh police (@fatehgarhpolice) February 20, 2022
However, it was later found that a certain voter was caught with an argument with the policeman who interrupted him for wearing a mask, pertaining to Covid-19 protocols. The Fatehgarh Police asserted, “The voting at the polling station is not affected in any way, nor is anyone being prevented from voting in any way. The allegations made are false and untrue.”
Repeated allegations made by Samajwadi Party have been refuted by concerned authorities throughout the day. The state has recorded a voter turnout of 48.81% till 3 PM.
