Dehradun, An incident of violence marred the Manglaur assembly polls in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, leaving four people injured even as 67.28 per cent polling was recorded in the constituency.
Voting in Badrinath, the other assembly seat where polls went to, took place peacefully, officials said, adding that the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 47.68 per cent.
However, election officials here said the final voter turnout could be revised.
In Manglaur, the BSP has fielded Ubedur Rehman, son of party MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari, whose death required the bypoll, against Qazi Nizamuddin of the Congress.
The BJP has fielded Gujjar leader Kartar Singh Bhadana.
In Badrinath, there is a direct contest between BJP's Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.
Roorkee Civil Line Kotwali in-charge R K Saklani said a report was received about a clash between workers of two parties at booth number 53-54 at Libbarheri in Manglaur.
Four people were injured in the clash and were sent to the hospital, he said.
Congress candidate and former MLA Nizamuddin was seen carrying a man in blood-stained clothes to the hospital. He accused the BJP of openly strangling democracy by sowing seeds of hatred.
An alleged video of the incident emerged on social media showing Nizamuddin hugging an injured worker at the hospital and crying loudly.
The injured moaned in pain, alleging that they were beaten and ordered not to vote.
Another video showed some voters being thrown out of the booth by men who had covered their faces.
Nizamuddin claimed that anti-social elements fired several bullets into the air.
"There are bullet marks on the walls of the cabin. They prove that shots were fired," Qazi told reporters.
He said even though the booth fell into the sensitive category during the last elections, the deployment of security personnel was not adequate.
There were two sub-inspector-level officials, one constable and no ambulance at the post, he said.
However, both the police and the Haridwar district administration denied that any shots were fired at the booth and said the reports were baseless.
Reacting to allegations of violence in Manglaur, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt said it was part of the Congress' conspiracy to influence voters.
"The Congress was aware of the inclination of the voters to vote for development. So it conspired and used workers from outside Manglaur to create some problems and influence the voters," Bhatt alleged.
Several Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya and Congress MP Imran Masood, condemned the violence saying this had never happened before in Uttarakhand.
"It has been done at the behest of the BJP in complicity with the authorities," Rawat charged.
He accused the BJP of trying to stop people from voting for Congress and "murdering democracy".
Masood said that the BJP is introducing electoral violence and vandalism in Uttarakhand.
Arya asked people to be careful about the designs of the BJP.
"A Congress delegation will ask the electoral chief to file a complaint as the district administration and police are hand in hand with the state government," Arya alleged.
Later, Congress leaders sat on a dharna in front of SP (rural) Swapan Kishore's office.
Manglaur, a Muslim- and Dalit-dominated constituency, has been in the hands of either the BSP or the Congress in the past.
The BJP has never won it since the creation of the state and from here it has deployed Bhadana, who was MLA in both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The Badrinath seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned and crossed over to the BJP in March this year.
Besides the BJP and Congress nominees, other candidates in the fray in Badrinath are former CRPF officer Himmat Singh of the Sainik Samaj Party and Naval Khali, a journalist contesting as an Independent.
Votes for the byelection will be counted on July 13.
Voting in Badrinath, the other assembly seat where polls went to, took place peacefully, officials said, adding that the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 47.68 per cent.
However, election officials here said the final voter turnout could be revised.
In Manglaur, the BSP has fielded Ubedur Rehman, son of party MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari, whose death required the bypoll, against Qazi Nizamuddin of the Congress.
The BJP has fielded Gujjar leader Kartar Singh Bhadana.
In Badrinath, there is a direct contest between BJP's Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.
Roorkee Civil Line Kotwali in-charge R K Saklani said a report was received about a clash between workers of two parties at booth number 53-54 at Libbarheri in Manglaur.
Four people were injured in the clash and were sent to the hospital, he said.
Congress candidate and former MLA Nizamuddin was seen carrying a man in blood-stained clothes to the hospital. He accused the BJP of openly strangling democracy by sowing seeds of hatred.
An alleged video of the incident emerged on social media showing Nizamuddin hugging an injured worker at the hospital and crying loudly.
The injured moaned in pain, alleging that they were beaten and ordered not to vote.
Another video showed some voters being thrown out of the booth by men who had covered their faces.
Nizamuddin claimed that anti-social elements fired several bullets into the air.
"There are bullet marks on the walls of the cabin. They prove that shots were fired," Qazi told reporters.
He said even though the booth fell into the sensitive category during the last elections, the deployment of security personnel was not adequate.
There were two sub-inspector-level officials, one constable and no ambulance at the post, he said.
However, both the police and the Haridwar district administration denied that any shots were fired at the booth and said the reports were baseless.
Reacting to allegations of violence in Manglaur, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt said it was part of the Congress' conspiracy to influence voters.
"The Congress was aware of the inclination of the voters to vote for development. So it conspired and used workers from outside Manglaur to create some problems and influence the voters," Bhatt alleged.
Several Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya and Congress MP Imran Masood, condemned the violence saying this had never happened before in Uttarakhand.
"It has been done at the behest of the BJP in complicity with the authorities," Rawat charged.
He accused the BJP of trying to stop people from voting for Congress and "murdering democracy".
Masood said that the BJP is introducing electoral violence and vandalism in Uttarakhand.
Arya asked people to be careful about the designs of the BJP.
"A Congress delegation will ask the electoral chief to file a complaint as the district administration and police are hand in hand with the state government," Arya alleged.
Later, Congress leaders sat on a dharna in front of SP (rural) Swapan Kishore's office.
Manglaur, a Muslim- and Dalit-dominated constituency, has been in the hands of either the BSP or the Congress in the past.
The BJP has never won it since the creation of the state and from here it has deployed Bhadana, who was MLA in both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The Badrinath seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned and crossed over to the BJP in March this year.
Besides the BJP and Congress nominees, other candidates in the fray in Badrinath are former CRPF officer Himmat Singh of the Sainik Samaj Party and Naval Khali, a journalist contesting as an Independent.
Votes for the byelection will be counted on July 13.
