‘Booth Was Occupied’: Cong's Warring Accuses AAP MLA’s Brother During Punjab Local Body Polls
Congress alleges booth capturing by AAP MLA’s brother during Muktsar local polls; AAP denies charges, probe sought.
Allegations of booth capturing surfaced during the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Punjab on Sunday, triggering a political face-off between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Sri Muktsar Sahib district.
The controversy erupted in Babanian village of the Gidderbaha Assembly constituency after Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring accused the brother of AAP MLA Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon of forcibly taking control of a polling booth.
Warring alleged that the MLA’s brother occupied the booth and conducted voting on his own for nearly half an hour in the absence of an Akali Dal polling agent. “Only a Congress polling agent was present when the MLA’s brother resorted to hooliganism and attacked democracy,” Warring said. He claimed to have spoken to the Muktsar SSP and demanded an impartial investigation into the incident.
The Congress leader further said party workers were heading to the village and that he would also reach the spot shortly. “Any attempt to influence the process by government officials or representatives will not be tolerated,” Warring said, adding that a case of booth capturing had allegedly been registered against the MLA’s brother in the past as well.
Rejecting the allegations, Sunny Dhillon, brother of AAP MLA Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, dismissed the claims as false. “Nothing of this sort has happened. These allegations are baseless,” he said.
Officials said polling in Babanian village was otherwise conducted peacefully, and the matter is being reviewed.
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