Kompella Madhavi Latha, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate from the Hyderabad constituency, who has been booked for checking the identities of Muslim women voters at a polling station, clarified her act saying that she received information that the presiding officer of the booth had caught a minor girl casting her vote.
BJP's Madhavi Latha checks identities of Muslim women, asks them to lift burqa
"We got the information that the presiding officer caught a minor girl casting her vote... They are not registering an FIR. They are free to register an FIR on me but not on others... My FIR started from 'Ram Baan'... I am getting the medal like FIRs for telling the truth..." news agency ANI quoted Latha as saying.
The BJP leader triggered a controversy during the polling on Monday after a video emerged where she was seen checking identity cards of burqa-clad Muslim women at a polling booth, asking them to lift or remove their veil. The police have also registered a case against Latha under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP leader triggered a controversy during the polling on Monday after a video emerged where she was seen checking identity cards of burqa-clad Muslim women at a polling booth, asking them to lift or remove their veil. The police have also registered a case against Latha under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act.
{{/usCountry}}Defending her act, Latha said that she had only requested the women to verify their identity and there was nothing wrong with this.
Case filed against BJP's Madhavi Latha over ‘arrow’ gesture; she reacts
"I am a candidate. As per law, the candidate has the right to check the ID cards without the facemasks. I am not a man, I am a woman and with a lot of humbleness, I have only requested them - can I please see and verify with the ID cards? If somebody wants to make a big issue out of it, that means they are scared," she said.
Earlier, Latha was booked for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community by purportedly gesturing to shoot an arrow towards a mosque during a Ram Navami procession on April 17.
Latha is contesting against Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.
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In the polling, which concluded on Monday, Telangana has reported 64.93% voter turnout. Bhongir segment witnessed the highest turnout at 76.47% while Hyderabad logged 46.08%, according to the Election Commission statistics.