On May 13, when polling took place in Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party alleged bogus votes were being cast in Khiri Pamaran village. 

The election officials dismissed the complaint, until a video surfaced six days later showing the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary casting eight votes in favour of the party. The youngster was booked by the police, and the chief electoral officer ordered repolling in the village. 

But this was not the only instance of electoral manipulation that the Samajwadi Party had alleged and the election officials had ignored in the constituency.

Last week, as election results rolled in, these complaints acquired fresh significance: the BJP won Farrukhabad with a razor-thin margin of 2,678 votes. Over 10 lakh votes had been cast in the constituency.

Would the result have been different had the complaints been taken seriously? 

Scroll’s Ayush Tiwari went to the constituency to find out.