'Got Complaint That Nobody Was Checking Voter IDs': Madhavi Latha Amid Burqa Row

Hyderabad: As the polling for the 4th phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Monday concluded across the country, BJP candidate from Telangana’s Hyderabad, Madhavi Latha is appeared to have gripped in a political row after she was purportedly caught in a video asking some Muslim women voters to remove their burqa and reveal their identity, so she could verify their identities. The issue escalated immediately prompting the Telangana police to register an FIR against her. Meanwhile Madhavi Latha, in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, responded to the allegations, saying that she went there after receiving a complaint from her agent that voters were not being checked by their identity card at the polling station.

Talking to Arnab Goswmi, the Hyderabad BJP candidate put her side over the incident asserting that she asked those women to reveal their identity, since a lady police officer and the poll official allegedly didn’t check their identity.

A 16-year-old girl was caught putting her vote in burqa at polling booth 40, alleges Madhavi Latha

"I got a complaint from our agent that voters were not being checked by their identity card. I requested a lady police officer to do so and she was reluctant and refused to do that. She said she was not instructed to do so. I also requested the presiding officer," Latha stated.

"Be it a Hindu or Muslim voter, whoever covers the face, has to show. I had to do their job because the polling officers denied doing their job," the BJP Hyderabad candidate added while making allegations against the police and a poll official at the booth.

“In the polling booth 40, there was a 16-year-old minor girl caught putting her vote in burqa,” Latha alleged.

When asked whether she did that in nervousness, as it was being alleged by the opposition leaders, she further added, "This is not nervousness, it is the spirit of fighting against injustice. People involved in fraud should be nervous, not me who uncovers it."

What is Burqa Incident?

BJP candidate in Hyderabad, Madhavi Latha, was on Monday captured in a purported video, wherein she was caught asking burqa wearing women voters to remove their face coverings so that she could verify their identities at a polling booth. The incident took place at the polling station number-122 at Azampura in Malakpet Assembly segment, where the BJP candidate had enquired about the Muslim women voters about their identity.

The video of Madhavi Latha later went viral on social media. She was apparently seeking to verify whether the faces of the women voters tallied the images on their Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC).

As soon as the video surfaced, the Hyderabad Police registered an FIR against her for allegedly trespassing into a polling station and asking some Muslim women voters to remove their burqa and reveal their identity.

The police registered the case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to undue influence at an election (171C), obstructing a public servant (186), and intent to incite (505(1)(c)), and Section 132 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 (misconduct at the polling station).

Who is Madhavi Latha?

Madhavi Latha, who was born into a Telugu family in Karnataka’s Hubli. Her parents hail from Coastal Andhra. She earned her degree from Gulbarga University, Karnataka, and pursued post-graduation at Mysore University.

In 2018, Latha joined the BJP and ran for office from the Guntur West constituency in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election but finished fourth.

In the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024, BJP candidate Madhavi Latha was fielded by the party against sitting MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad.