‘Electric Shock If You Press Any Other Button’: Chhattisgarh Min

Kawasi Lakhma has been issued a notice by the Election Commission, asking for an explanation within three days.

Kawasi Lakhma, Chhattisgarh’s excise, commerce and industries minister.

(Photo: ANI)

Kawasi Lakhma, a Chhattisgarh minister, has been caught on camera warning voters that they would receive an "electric shock" if they press any button other than that marked for a Congress candidates. He has been issued a notice by the Election Commission on Wednesday, 17 April, reported NDTV.

“Aapko pehla number button dabana hai. Dusre number ka button dabaoge toh current lagega..usmain current hai. Teesre number button main bhi current hai,” he said at an election rally for the Congress party.

(Translation: You have to press the first button in the EVM. If you press the second button, you will get an electric shock, there is current in it. You will get an electric shock even if you press the third button)."

Lakhma was urging voters to vote for Congress candidate Biresh Thakur who is contesting from the Kanker seat.

The five-time lawmaker is Chhattisgarh's excise, commerce and industries minister.

While the Election Commission has sent Lakhma a notice asking for an explanation within three days, the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit has also lodged a complaint with the body, complaining that it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Scroll.in reported.

Three Lok Sabha seats in Chattisgarh – Rajnandgaon, Kanker and Mahasamund – will go to the polls on 18 April.

BJP state president Vikram Usendi condemned Lakhma’s statement, adding that the minister had misled voters by giving them wrong information on voting machines, reported Scroll.in.

(With inputs from NDTV and Scroll.in.)