Cast fake votes if people are absent on polling day, says BJP's Badaun candidate

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Badaun candidate for Lok Sabha Polls Sanghmitra Maurya was caught in a fresh controversy after she was seen asking her supporters to indulge in ‘fake’ voting. "Fake voting happens everywhere, if you get a chance take advantage of the situation," Maurya said while addressing party workers at an election meeting. She is the daughter of Swami Prasad Maurya, a minister in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government. Sanghmitra Maurya is contesting against the Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav.

“Not a single vote should go in vain and if some are absent, then it is common everywhere that fake vote is cast... if you get a chance, do take advantage of it... do not do it, but if you get a chance... try to take the real voters to cast their votes but in case... then something can be done in a hidden manner,” news agency PTI quoted her as saying.

District Magistrate Dinesh Kumar Singh, when contacted, said he was not aware of the matter but would look into the claims.

Maurya had earlier hit the headlines by saying that she would become a goon if anyone tried to bully the people of Badaun.

The Budaun Lok Sabha constituency will vote in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 23.