Candidate Serves Tea At Polling Booth, Sparks Tension In Odisha’s Bhadrak

Bhadrak: A candidate in the panchayat elections in the district landed in trouble as he was distributing tea in cups bearing his poll symbol among the voters at a polling booth on Wednesday.

According to sources, the incident took place at booth number 13 in Chandia panchayat while the voting was going on. The candidate, Asit Kumar Swain, who is contesting for panchayat samiti member post, started distributing tea in plastic cups among the voters standing on the queue waiting for their turn to cast the votes.

While Swain has been allotted kettle as his election symbol, he was serving tea in the cups bearing his photograph and picture of a kettle. As some voters pointed out that it was violation of poll code of conduct, tension prevailed in the area.

The voters forced Swain to stop serving tea and told him to go away from the spot. As the candidate did not heed them, a scuffle ensued between the voters and his supporters.

On being informed, Bhadrak SP Charan Singh Meena along with a police team rushed to the spot. He pacified the agitated voters and brought the situation under control.

The SP also ordered deployment of additional police force at the booth to prevent any untoward incident.