BJP's Hyderabad candidate Madhavi Latha asks Muslim women to prove identity inside voting booth, case filed

Madhavi Latha, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Hyderabad, surrounded herself with controversy after a video surfaced showing her checking voter ID cards and requesting Muslim women to remove their burqas at a polling booth.

A Case has been registered in Malakpet Police Station against the BJP candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, Madhavi Latha u/s of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act.

In the video, Madhavi Latha was seen checking the voter identity cards of women wearing burqas, asking them to identify themselves without face coverings. Defending her actions, she stated that as a candidate, she has the right to verify ID cards without face masks and that it was a simple request to verify identity.

"The Police personnel seem very dull, they are not active...They are not checking anything. Senior citizen voters are coming here but their names are deleted from the list. A few of them are residents of Goshamahal but their names are in the list of Rangareddy," Madhavi Latha expressed concerns about discrepancies in the voter list in her constituency.

Despite the controversy, Madhavi Latha cast her vote at the Amrita Vidyalayam polling station in Hyderabad for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, emphasizing "Sabka Sath mai hi Sabka Vikas Hai" (Development for All).

Madhavi Latha is contesting against the incumbent 4-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, along with BRS' Gaddam Srinivas Yadav in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha Constituency. This marks the first time that the BJP has nominated a female candidate from this constituency, challenging the long-standing dominance of Asaduddin Owaisi in the region.

Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections took place in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory, including Hyderabad, with polling commencing at 7:00 am.