Vote rate: Rs 500 each; Video has been shot in Kauni village in Gidderbaha area of Faridkot Lok Sabha segment
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, May 2
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Punjab unit has uploaded a 11.25 minute video on its official Facebook page showing some Akalis allegedly distributing money among the voters on the polling day.
The video, the party claims, has been shot in a village in Gidderbaha assembly constituency.
A few men are purportedly interacting with village residents at a house in Kauni village, asking them to cast their votes in the favour of scale (takkadi) and get Rs 500 for each vote. A policeman in uniform too can be spotted in the video.
Some people can be are heard saying, “Kaake nu de de. Sukhe nu vi dva de. Jihna di parchi hai oh lai lo. Eh Kala Singh di nooh hai. Ik vaar vote paa lo baad ch de dyaange. Ehna da naam likh lo. Tere kol 500 rupaye hai nhi. Ek vaar lyaayi. Takkdi te paa aayi. Gaddi ch chad. Chhad aaune haan. Hun vote paayi dhyaan naal. Parchi ton bina paise nahi milde… (Give money to Kaka, Sukha and others. She is Kala Singh’s daughter-in-law. Cast your vote in favour of scale (SAD symbol) and then we will pay Rs 500 to you. Note down their names).”
The man who shot the video had first made a telephonic complaint to the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, Muktsar, alleging that some supporters of SGPC member Navtej Singh Kauni were distributing money at Kauni village. Thereafter, a team headed by local SDM and several other officials went to the village to verify the facts, which has been also shown in the video.
In the video, Navtej Kauni has also been shown speaking to someone over the phone, saying, “Oh ji, SDM Gidderbaha sign karvaun aaya. (The SDM came for some signature).” He later hands over the phone to the Gidderbaha SDM, who says, “Complaint hoyi hai. CD banaayi hai kise ne, bheji hai. Dikha taa ohne audio, video. Ehna naal kar lo gall (Someone has prepared a CD and lodged a complaint).”
Later, someone says, “Chaar-panj bandeya ton likha lo ke either naa kise ne paise vande te naa hi litte (Get noted by four to five persons that no distribution of money took place here).”
When contacted, Gidderbaha SDM Hardeep Singh Dhaliwal said, “I went to Kauni village on the polling day and spent nearly an hour there to verify the facts, but the complainant who had shot the video did not turn up. He was called again, but failed. So, I have not seen the video. But, the villagers present there said they had not accepted any money from any political party or person.”
The SDM said, “Even Navtej Singh Kauni was called to give his statement as he was being accused of sending his supporters to bribe the voters.” On the other hand, the complainant, who did not wish to disclose his identity, said, “I was told to appear before the entire village and show the video, which was not possible.”
Sumail Singh, AAP’s convener of campaign committee in Punjab, said, “The video was provided to us by a resident of Gidderbaha, which was uploaded on the party’s Facebook page to make the people aware about what happened during the polls.” He said Prof Sadhu Singh, who contested from Faridkot parliamentary constituency, had been told to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission.
Kauni, when contacted, said, “I am in a meeting now. All I can say at the moment is I had no role in any incident of buying of votes.”
What’s in the video
- A few men, believed to be Akalis, are shown interacting with the residents at a house in Kauni village in Gidderbaha
- The Gidderbaha assembly segment is part of Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency
- There was a three-cornered contest between sitting MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan (SAD), MLA Joginder Panjgrain (Congress) and Prof Sadhu Singh (AAP)
- The villagers, in the video, are asked to cast their votes in favour of scale (takkadi)
- In return, the villagers are assured Rs 500 for each vote; a policeman in uniform too can be spotted in the video
- During his Punjab tour, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had urged his supporters to expose illegal means like use of money and liquor to influence voters
- The video has been uploaded on AAP’s official Facebook page
Source Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com
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