Stray scuffles, allegations of bogus voting
LUCKNOW: The civic polls in Lucknow on Sunday went off peacefully save stray incidents of confrontation between candidates and their supporters, allegedly over bogus voting and delay in polling due to faulty EVMs.
A dozen people were taken into custody for interrupting voting for various reasons, but were released later after warning.
The police had to face resentment from Samajwadi Party and Congress supporters at polling centre number 172 in Dalibagh. The supporters were protesting over alleged bogus voting by rival political parties. Their agitation continued for over an hour and polling was interrupted. The process restarted only after extra police force reached the spot and used mild force .
Meanwhile, SP and BSP workers got into a brawl with BJP supporters at the polling booth in Mahatma Gandhi school of Chitwapur Pajawa ward in Hussainganj. Police intervened to control the situation and the troublemakers were chased away.
Cops also resorted to mild cane-charge at a booth in Rajajpiuram , where a few corporator candidates got into a brawl amid allegation of bogus voting. Similarly, some BSP supporters were beaten up at a polling centre at the Rajakiya Inter College of Priyadarshani ward, when they allegedly tried to influence some voters. The police rescued them.
Allegations of bogus voting were also reported from the Blooming Flower school polling centre at the Chandrabhanu Gupta ward, but the situation was controlled by the police.
Irked voters also protested outside the Municipal Nursery school polling centre after names of some employees of the Raj Bhawan colony were found missing from the voters’ list.
In another incident, police took two underage youths into custody for loitering inside a polling centre. They said they were agents of an Aam Aadmi Party candidate in the Old city area. The boys were later removed from the centre and a warning was issued to their parents.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Lucknow Deepak Kumar said polling in the city was largely peaceful. “No major trouble was reported,” he said.