UP Polls: Amid BJP Digs, RLD Chief Jayant Chaudhary Goes from 'May Skip Voting' to 'Will Try', But Fails

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary failed to cast his vote in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on Thursday. Chaudhary, who said he “may skip voting” earlier in the day, could not reach a polling station in Mathura on time as he was in Bijnor for an election rally till 6 pm.

After the BJP took a dig at him for his statement, Chaudhary later changed it saying he will “try” to vote in Mathura in the evening. He had faced sharp criticism from the BJP for saying he will skip voting due to election rallies. The politically significant western UP voted in the first phase.

“I’m a voter of Mathura. Right now, we’re in Bijnor as there are just two days to campaign between the first and second rounds of the UP polls. My wife voted in the morning itself. After campaigning ends here, I’ll try to vote at booths open till 6 pm,” Chaudhary was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He also posted a picture of his wife Charu Chaudhary, who was spotted posing for photos after voting at a booth in Mathura. He tweeted: “Charu casts vote in Mathura!”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is also with Chaudhary in Bijnor.

After he made the statement that he may skip voting, many BJP leaders flagged that Chaudhary was not voting but an RLD spokesperson said he would be visiting a polling booth in the evening. At an election rally, BJP national president JP Nadda said, “Today one leader, who was supposed to vote and exercise his franchise, did not even do so. This is the arrogance of parivarvad (nepotism). Such people get the reply they deserve from democracy.”

Earlier in the day, amid reports of glitches in EVMs at some places in Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary had tweeted, in a lighter vein, that it seemed that the youth and farmers were pressing the button in full rage. “There are complaints about EVM malfunctioning. It seems the youth and farmers are pressing the button in full rage!! Request you not so hard, press the button in favour of the alliance with love!!” he tweeted in Hindi.

Ironically, he also appealed to people to go out and vote in large numbers. “Participate in the festival of democracy, go out of your houses and vote to elect a government that works for you,” he said in a video message.

Additional chief election officer BD Ram Tiwari in Lucknow said polling for the first phase of assembly elections on 58 seats of 11 districts in the state was peaceful. “There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places. Those EVMs are being replaced,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)

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