Congress Protests Alleged BJP Campaigning on Voting Day in Gujarat By-Election

The Manjalpur Assembly bypoll witnessed a political flashpoint within hours of polling on Thursday as Congress leaders staged a protest outside the Vadodara Collector’s chamber accusing the Election Commission of turning a blind eye to what they called BJP campaigning on the voting day. The protest began after Vadodara City Congress president Rutvij Joshi accused BJP leaders and elected representatives of openly campaigning on the polling day by moving through Manjalpur wearing party scarves and accompanied by drums, in violation of election rules. Joshi said videos of the alleged violations had been sent to the district administration but no action had been taken. Congress leaders met the District Collector seeking action and alleged that their representation was not heard, prompting them to stage a sit-in protest outside the Collector’s chamber, raising slogans accusing the Election Commission of acting in favour of the BJP. “The Election Commission is showing partiality. BJP leaders are openly campaigning on the counting day and despite our complaints, there has been no police action.. The EC must stop acting as an instrument of the BJP,” Joshi said. Congress leader Sandeep Mangrola, who submitted a written complaint to the Election officers, alleged that party workers who approached the police to lodge complaints were made to wait at the police station while BJP leaders continued campaigning in different parts of the constituency. Justifying the action, the ruling BJP claimed that the party was not campaigning but “creating awareness on the need to vote”. BJP general secretary Hitendrasinh Chauhan said: Our party workers had gone to create voter awareness and encourage people to exercise their right to vote freely. Voting is the democratic right of every citizen… They used drums while urging the people to vote.” “Some anti-social elements associated with the Congress, (allegedly) under the influence of alcohol, attacked and intimidated our workers. Despite the provocation, our workers showed great restraint. They were assaulted, and the mobile phones of several workers were snatched away… After the police arrived at the scene, the situation was brought under control. Our workers are now safe, and we have informed the police about the entire incident,” he said. In a statement on Thursday, the District Election officers said that to ensure that the polling process during the Manjalpur Assembly by-election was conducted in a completely transparent, free, fair, and peaceful manner, webcasting facilities were arranged at all 260 polling stations. “For effective monitoring of the polling process, two cameras were installed at each polling station. A total of 520 cameras enabled continuous live monitoring of all polling stations. To effectively monitor the live webcast feeds, a zonal webcasting viewing team was deployed at the Assembly Hall. The team comprised 28 personnel, with one official assigned to each zone… Throughout the polling period, all polling stations were under constant observation through the webcasting system. The monitoring was aimed at detecting any untoward incident, irregularity, or violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” the statement said. Clash A separate clash occurred outside Panchsheel Vidyalaya polling station in Manjalpur between two groups, including the Congress workers. The party alleged that one of its workers was assaulted during the altercation. Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Gupta said police rushed to the spot after receiving information about the clash and dispersed the crowd. He said polling resumed peacefully and added that CCTV footage from the area would be examined as part of the investigation. District Election offices were unavailable for comments on the Congress’ representation. 38% turnout till 6 pm Voting began at 7 am across 260 polling stations at 62 locations, with about 38 per cent turnout recorded between 7 am and 6 pm. More than 2.19 lakh voters, including around 1.11 lakh men and 1.07 lakh women, are eligible to vote in the bypoll, which has emerged as a direct contest between BJP’s Satish Patel and Congress’ Bhikhabhai Rabari. The by-election was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Yogesh Patel in June. The bypoll is being closely watched as Manjalpur has long been considered a BJP stronghold. In the 2022 Assembly election, Yogesh Patel won the seat by a margin of over one lakh votes, securing 1,20,133 votes against the Congress candidate’s around 19,000. The BJP is seeking to retain its dominance in the constituency, while the Congress is hoping to narrow the gap in one of Vadodara city’s most politically significant seats.