New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) sought a public apology from Congress on Saturday for spreading a "fake" video supposedly demonstrating postal ballot manipulation.
A guy in a military uniform was purportedly seen tampering with postal votes in the footage, news agency PTI reported.
“The Kumaon regiment in an official reply to the Election Commission has said that the video is not from any of the army units in Pithoragarh district,” Pradesh BJP media in-charge Manveer Chauhan was quoted by PTI in its report.
According to the Kumaon regiment's response to the EC, the Congress was "insulting" the armed forces by claiming that the video was of some army unit.
The Congress candidate from Didihat in Pithoragarh district had already filed a police complaint, thinking that the video was of an army unit stationed in the area.
Harish Rawat, a senior Congress politician, was the first to publish the footage on Twitter and Facebook.
A Congress team led by Pradesh Congress president Ganesh Godiyal had also formally requested that the video be examined by Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya.
After speaking with officials from army units in the region, the CEO requested a response from the Pithoragarh District Magistrate.
Uttarakhand Elections 2017
The Harish Rawat-led Congress government of Uttarakhand lost power in the 2017 elections as the BJP won 57 seats in the 70-member House.
Following that, Trivendra Singh Rawat served as the state's Chief Minister until March 9, when he resigned due to a "collective decision" made by the BJP's high hierarchy.
His replacement, Lok Sabha MP Tirath Singh Rawat, was likewise a short-lived CM, and he was succeeded by Pushkar Dhami since the Election Commission was unlikely to hold a by-election due to the COVID-19 scenario.
(With Inputs From PTI)