Rahul Gandhi courts controversy after seen entering Amethi poll booths

Zee Media Bureau

Amethi: In what could prove to be a law violation act, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who for the first time visited his constituency, Amethi, on polling day ever since he has represented the seat since 2004, entered the voting compartment during election hours in at least three booths. Circulating images of Rahul Gandhi interacting with voters at polling booths here on Wednesday while polling was on for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, both the BJP and the AAP alleged that the Congress is trying to influence voters on election day. The images showed the Congress vice president talking to voters inside a polling booth in Amethi, while some showed him looking at an EVM while a voter stands next to him. The images were shared on the Twitter handles of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). "EC overlooking blatant violation of election norms by Gandhis on a polling day is shocking. Clear signs of a very desperate Congress," BJP leader Vijay Goel tweeted. An Election Commission (EC) official told a news agency that while candidates are allowed to go to polling booths, they cannot go to the voting area where EVMs are kept. "The candidates can go to polling booths, to see in general if the voting is fair, but they cannot go where the EVMs are," a EC official said. Earlier on Wednesday, there was a confrontation between BJP`s candidate Smriti Irani and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra`s aide Preeti Sahay with Irani alleging that Sahay was trying to influence voters at a booth. (With IANS inputs)