New Delhi:
Haryana Assembly Elections 2019: BJP candidate Bakshish Singh Virk has been issued a show-cause notice by the Election Commission after a video surfaced of him allegedly saying 'every vote on EVM is for BJP' during an election rally. The Election Commission has sent him a notice and appointed a special observer to the constituency to take "corrective action". Virk has replied to the notice saying 'video was edited'.
In the video, BJP candidate and Assandh MLA Bakshish Singh Virk purportedly said that no matter which button is pressed on the EVM, the vote would go to the BJP. He later said it was a "fake video" and a conspiracy by his rivals to defame him and his party.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP on Monday over Virk's comment. Gandhi shared the video clip and called Virk "the most honest man" in the BJP.
The BJP MLA is heard saying, "Whoever you vote for, we will get to know. Don't think we won't know. We deliberately don't tell you, but if we want, we can find out. Because Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is intelligent. Manoharlal (Chief Minister ML Khattar) is intelligent."
He is further heard admitting that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are rigged saying, ""You may vote for whoever you want, your vote will go to the kamal (lotus, BJP's poll symbol) only. Press any button, the vote will go to BJP. We have fixed a purja (part) in the EVM machines."
Virk, however, denied having made the claims, and claimed that the video was fake and a conspiracy by his rivals to defame him and his party.
An statement by the EC on Sunday said former deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi is being sent to Assandh constituency in Karnal "in light of the video circulating in social media".
