Widespread violence and booth-level clashes marred the MC elections across the region on Tuesday as rival party workers clashed over allegations of bogus voting and intimidation.
Tension erupted at a polling booth in Faridkot’s Ward No. 17 after Opposition parties accused a personal assistant of AAP MLA Gurdit Singh Sekhon of illegally entering booths and forcibly evicting their polling agents. Upon receiving the information, former Congress MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon arrived with a large contingent of his supporters, leading to a scuffle with security personnel as they attempted to enter the booth. “The polling was peaceful until the final hour when AAP leaders brought in outsiders to cast fake votes,” Dhillon alleged.
A violent showdown broke out in Ward No. 18 in Gidderbaha, where AAP and SAD (B) workers traded severe blows and kicks outside a polling station over setting up of booths. Eyewitnesses said the verbal spat quickly deteriorated into an open brawl, causing panic among voters. Both camps accused each other of mobilising armed outsiders to intimidate genuine voters. A heavy police contingent rushed to the spot and resorted to mild force to disperse the crowd.
In Moga, polling was halted temporarily at booths nos. 104, 105 and 106 following early morning over allegations of fraudulent voting.
The violence turned critical in Barnala’s Ward No. 15, where Jasbir Singh, husband of BJP candidate Deepinder Kaur, was brutally assaulted at a polling station.
