New Delhi: A Delhi BJP delegation met with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Wednesday, demanding that women voters wearing burqas or face masks undergo proper verification by female officials during the May 25 polling.
They argued that this measure would prevent “anti-social and anti-democratic elements” from manipulating the election results in the seven Lok Sabha seats of the national capital.
This request demand controversy involving BJP candidate Madhavi Latha from Hyderabad, who was accused of demanding that burqa-clad voters show their faces for verification.
The delegation, which included BJP MLAs Ajay Mahawar and Mohan Singh Bisht, state secretary Kishan Sharma, and lawyer Neeraj Gupta, submitted a memorandum to the Delhi CEO. They insisted that women wearing burqas or face masks be thoroughly verified by female officials before being allowed to vote.
The memorandum urged the poll body to deploy sufficient female polling officers and security personnel to verify the identities of burqa-clad voters, especially in constituencies with a high number of such voters. It highlighted the importance of checking identities through government-issued ID cards to prevent bogus voting.
The Election Commission’s handbook for presiding officers also outlines procedures for verifying voters’ identities, the memorandum noted.
