Badaun (UP): District authorities Tuesday raided a house here after the Samajwadi Party (SP) complained that state minister Swami Prasad Maurya was violating poll rules and camping in the constituency from where his daughter is contesting.
Maurya was not found at the house, but the SP nominee Dharmendra Yadav charged persisted with his allegation. SP president Akhilesh Yadav too had referred to ‘reports’ about the minister being present in the constituency.
The BJP has fielded Sanghmitra Maurya against Dharmendra, who is seeking re-election from Badaun. Election rules require party functionaries to leave a constituency when campaigning ends – and till polling is over, unless they are themselves registered as voters there.
City magistrate Kamlesh Kumar Awasthi said there were reports about the minister being present at a house and a raid was carried out on the directions of DM Dinesh Kumar Singh. But only the house owner’s family members were found there, Awasthi said.
Dharmendra reiterated his charge even after the raid failed to produce the desired results. “The minister is still hiding in the constituency and influencing polling in favour of his daughter, and the administration which claims to have carried out a search had alerted him before reaching there,” Dharmendra alleged.
“The raid was an eyewash. If he is not here, he should immediately appear before the media wherever he is and prove me wrong,” the SP candidate told this agency.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote in Saifai (Etawah), SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the EC should take cognisance of the reports from Badaun. “I have come to know that a state minister is trying to influence polling in Badaun, from where his daughter is contesting,” Yadav told reporters.
It should be stated here that last week, Sanghmitra was caught on camera purportedly encouraging her supporters to indulge in fake voting.