Mangaluru : Irked by the presence of Ivan D’Souza, MLC at the entrance of the polling booth at Infant Mary Higher Primary School at Jeppu in the city, BJP workers had a verbal duel with him.

Ivan was standing near the entrance of the booth along with the Congress and BJP candidates of the ward. The BJP workers objected to the presence of Ivan saying that he is an elected representative and he should not stand in such close proximity to the polling station. In fact, Ivan was asking the voters to vote for the Congress candidate.

On the contrary, Ivan put the blame on the BJP workers and said that BJP workers from other wards are present near the polling station and are creating issues for the voters. The BJP workers said that If Ivan is not going to leave the place, they will also call their MP and MLAs to the spot and canvas for their party. But Ivan did not budge, which led to verbal duel between the MLC and BJP workers.

Later, on hearing the news, the police arrived to the spot and dispersed both the Congress and BJP workers to a distance of 100 meters away from the entrance of the polling booth. In addition ACP Gaonkar, other senior police officers and return officer, who rushed to the spot, requested the workers and leaders of both Congress and BJP to allow the public to cast their votes freely without any tension.

The voting continued smoothly once the police team arrived. Apart from Ivan of Congress, BJP leaders like Punith Kottari, Capt Brijesh Chowta, Joylus and Nandan Mallya were present on the spot.