Kheda: Around 1,400 Muslim voters in Undhela village of Gujarat’s Kheda district boycotted polling on Monday. second phase of assembly elections Community leaders said that in protest against the public beating of some men of the community by the police two months ago. Election officials have denied the claim that the boycott was not called for.
1,400 villagers protest during second phase of polling in Gujarat
Community leaders said all 1,400 Muslim voters out of a total of 3,700 voters in the village, located in Matar taluka, joined the protest and did not exercise their franchise in the second phase of polling for 93 assembly seats.
“All Muslim voters in the village stayed away from the voting process in protest against the public thrashing and the administration’s refusal to punish the culprits. We called for a boycott to express our anger at the unilateral action by the police.” Maqbool Sayyed, a local Muslim leader from Undhela, claimed that so far no policeman has been suspended for their misdeeds.
Kheda district collector denied
However, Kheda district collector KL Bachani cited local election officials and said no boycott call was made.
Bachani said, “As per the report of the returning officer, no such incident has happened and no one has approached us regarding any such issue. As per our records, 43 per cent voters voted in Undhela today ”
Kheda flogging incident
In October, seven people, including a policeman, were injured when stones were pelted at a garba event in Kheda district, allegedly by a group of Muslim community members. He objected to organizing the program near a mosque.
Later, videos showing plainclothes policemen beating some people who were suspected of pelting stones with lathis in front of other villagers went viral on social media, triggering an uproar.
The counting of votes will take place on December 8 for all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, where polling was held in two phases on December 1 and 5.