BJP employs Muslim women to combat voter fraud in Lok Sabha elections 2024
With approximately 960 million eligible voters out of a population of 1.4 billion gearing up for the upcoming general elections of 2024, the country’s political landscape is grappling with longstanding issues of voter fraud and booth capture.
In response to these challenges, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has devised a strategy to enlist women from the Muslim community to help mitigate the risk of false voting, particularly individuals exploiting the burqa as a disguise.
According to leaders of its minority wing, the ruling party’s strategy underscores its concerns about potential fraudulent voting in Muslim-majority regions. By empowering Muslim women to oversee voting activities and deter instances of voter impersonation, the BJP seeks to uphold the integrity of the electoral process in these areas, they confirmed. These trained women will be crucial in detecting any suspicious activity, especially among individuals wearing masks or burqas, by verifying their voter ID cards and other authorised documents.
By emphasising the strict enforcement of electoral regulations, including the potential requirement to remove face coverings for identification purposes, the BJP aims to uphold the integrity of the democratic process and foster confidence in the electoral system.
The BJP Minority Morcha, spearheading this initiative, has underscored its key focus on Western Uttar Pradesh, where the party alleges fraudulent voting occurred in past elections.
Significantly, several regions of Western Uttar Pradesh, slated to cast their votes in the first phase on April 19, boast substantial Muslim populations.
Notably, constituencies like Moradabad and Rampur have Muslim constituents making up nearly half of the total electorate, while areas such as Saharanpur and Kairana see the Muslim community representing approximately 38 to 42 per cent of the electorate.
In January, the BJP’s minority wing launched the “Shukriya Modi Bhaijaan” or “Thanks Brother Modi” campaign to attract Muslim women to the saffron party in anticipation of the 2024 general elections.
Reportedly, the most notable feature of this campaign is the active involvement of Muslim women who are joining the BJP due to initiatives undertaken by both the central and state governments.
Additionally, these women are undergoing training to help prevent any potential losses to the BJP resulting from fraudulent voting. Voting in India is conducted using both machines and ballots.
Each of India’s voting machines is capable of recording a maximum of 2,000 votes and accommodates up to 64 candidates, according to available data.
These locally-made machines operate on batteries, making them suitable for use in areas lacking electricity infrastructure. The software powering these machines was developed by a team of engineers at a state-run electronics firm, with authorities emphasising that access to the machines and their records is restricted solely to this group.
During the voting process, voters cast their ballots by pressing a button on the machine.
Additionally, there is a button available to poll officials that enables them to halt the machine from recording further votes.
