Congress general secretary Harish Rawat has posted a video on social media that purportedly shows one person at an Army centre ticking and signing several postal ballot papers. Sharing the video on his Twitter handle and Facebook on Tuesday, Rawat said, “Sharing a short video for everyone’s information. It shows how one man at an army centre is ticking and signing several ballot papers. Will the Election Commission take cognisance of this?” When asked about the tweet, Rawat’s spokesman Surendra Kumar refused to disclose the source of the video but claimed that it is from Uttarakhand.

The party has not made a formal complaint to the Election Commission in this regard yet but it can take suo motu cognisance of it, he said. The Congress leaders termed it as a “mockery of democracy” and urged the Election Commission to take cognisance of the video and act against the guilty. The state Congress has retweeted Rawat’s tweet. Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Pritam Singh said,”In this video that makes a mockery of democracy, a man at an army centre is seen ticking and signing several postal ballot papers in favour of the party of his choice.” The Election Commission should take cognisance of it and act against the guilty, Singh said.

Reacting to the tweet, the BJP termed it the Congress’ frustration, saying the party is doing it as it can see its defeat in the recently held Assembly polls. “The Congress is resorting to such tactics as it is aware that it has failed to mislead people. In the face of its imminent defeat the party which was talking earlier about manipulation of EVMs is now talking about ballot papers. It shows the party’s frustration,” Pradesh BJP media incharge Manveer Singh Chauhan said.

The Army should be kept away from politics and the Congress should avoid levelling such allegations without testing their authenticity, Chauhan said.

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