By South Asia correspondent Meghna Bali and Bhat Burhan
A worker from Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was filmed plotting to bribe police and polling officers to intimidate Muslim voters in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) ahead of an election.
In the footage, which has been independently verified by the ABC, party worker Bhuvnesh Kumar is heard outlining several tactics aimed at slowing down the vote in UP’s Sambhal constituency, which took place on May 7.
Metadata from the video shows it was taken a month before electors went to the polls.
“The [polling] agent will challenge the voter by accusing him of voting on forged documents,” Mr Kumar says.
“Do not use violence, no use of firearms and any other weapon, don’t physically assault anyone. You just need to create a fake scene so there will be chaos, so women will stop coming to polling station.
“This is one way to ensure low turnout.”
This story was originally published in abc.net.au. Read the full story here.
