Image: The Quint
On the eve of counting of votes in Assembly election, Uttar Pradesh witnessed a major churn in the lineup of Electoral Officers when the Election Commission announced that the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has been deputed as special officer in Meerut, and the Bihar CEO will be the counting incharge in Varanasi, stated news reports. There have also been overnight removals of nodal officers for controversies surrounding EVMs in Varanasi district. A returning officer in Sonbhadra and an additional election officer in Bareilly were also removed.
These officers were removed from poll duty in Uttar Pradesh, by the Election Commission a day after the Samajwadi Party (SP) alleged major protocol violations concerning the movement of electronic voting machines just ahead of counting. The officers who have been removed from election duty have been identified as:
- Nalini Kant Singh, who was the Varanasi Additional District Magistrate (ADM) and was accused of moving EVMs on Tuesday without informing political parties,
- Ramesh Kumar, who is the Returning Officer in Sonbhadra district,
- VK Singh who was the Additional Election Officer in Bareilly district, and who was in hot water after ballot boxes and other poll-related items were found in a garbage bin in Baheri area of Bareilly
Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has given it special attention, and visits before and during this Assembly election.
According to news reports, a delegation led by Samajwadi Party state president Naresh Uttam Patel also reached the state election commission office late on Tuesday night. Patel told mediapersons that they have given a memorandum about the Azamgarh incident and asked the Election Commission to conduct “fair counting of votes and not let India’s democracy be tarnished.” The party has also written to the Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India (ECI) asking that the counting of votes be web-casting and the link be made available to political parties.
समाजवादी पार्टी के प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री नरेश उत्तम पटेल ने मुख्य चुनाव आयुक्त भारत निर्वाचन आयोग नई दिल्ली को पत्र लिखकर मतगणना की वेब कांस्टिग कराये जाने तथा वेब कांस्टिग का ‘लिंक‘ राजनैतिक दलों को उपलब्ध कराये जाने की मांग की है।https://t.co/lG316xfZoO
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) March 9, 2022
A day earlier the SP president, Akhilesh Yadav had made serious allegations against the Uttar Pradesh government, accusing it of ‘stealing’ Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), ahead of March10, when the counting of votes cast in the Assembly polls is due to take place. Scores of videos have been shared since March 8 evening showing a truck reportedly loaded with EVMs being caught in Varanasi.
On Wednesday morning, the party tweeted a video of an Election Commission official admitting to “lapses” in moving electronic voting machines. The order for the removal of Varanasi Additional District Magistrate NK Singh stated that he had moved EVMs in the district without informing poll officials and political parties. It said,“His dereliction caused a lot of confusion among candidates in Varanasi, and the reputation of the administration was affected due to this.” Additional Collector Sanjay Kumar is now the nodal officer for EVMs.
Whereas VK Singh was removed after ballot boxes and other poll-related items were found in a garbage bin in Baheri area of Bareilly, according to news reports. Moreover, “Election Commission acted against Kumar as ballot papers were found from a box in his vehicle.”
Samajwadi Party has regularly updated on its twitter handle its alleggations of various lapses in protocol, ahead of counting, asking “at whose behest is this happening? Are the officers being pressured from the CM office?”
आज़मगढ़ में वाराणसी नम्बर की स्कार्पियो गाड़ी से 10000 सादा बैलेट पेपर पकड़ा गया।
लाइट बन्द कर स्ट्रॉंग रूम के अंदर जा रही गाड़ी को गेट पर मुस्तैद सपा कार्यकर्ताओं ने दबोचा।
किसके इशारे पर बैलेट ले जाया जा रहा था? क्या मकसद था? चुनाव आयोग कृपया स्पष्ट करे @ECISVEEP @ceoup pic.twitter.com/5YtJCfvwKf
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) March 9, 2022
मिर्जापुर ईवीएम स्ट्रांग रूम के अंदर से ईवीएम बीप की आवाज आना गंभीर धांधली और षड्यंत्र का पर्दाफाश करता है।
तत्काल स्पष्टीकरण देते हुए कठोरतम कार्रवाई करे चुनाव आयोग। @ceoup @ECISVEEP @DM_MIRZAPUR pic.twitter.com/CHbw57FD1A
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) March 9, 2022
After the dramatic discovery of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) being whisked away, allegedly in a clandestine manner, in Uttar Pradesh on the evening of March 8, questions have been raised about the alleged complicity of the district administration in the exercise.
Opposition parties are not buying the Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma’s explanation that the machines were not used in elections, but were instead used for training purposes. Interestingly, even the Election Commission has backed the DM’s claims. But calls for the DM’s transfer have been growing, as Opposition parties feel the process of vote counting could get compromised if authorities are unable to remain impartial due to their alleged proximity to the ruling regime.
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