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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 are being 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.
Who is the Varanasi DM?
Kaushal Raj Sharma, a 2006 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, who originally hails from Haryana is the current DM of Varanasi. He holds an M.Tech degree in Textile Engineering and an M.A in Public Policy.
Late night on October 31, 2019, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in a major statewide reshuffle, transferred as many as 22 IAS officers, 22 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and three police commissioners. One of the officials transferred was Kaushal Raj Sharma.
It is noteworthy that Sharma had taken charge as the DM of Lucknow shortly after Adityanath became CM. But in 2019, Adityanath cited displeasure at the law-and-order situation in Varanasi, and transferred Sharma there to take charge. It is also noteworthy that Sharma was the DM of Muzaffarnagar at the time of the communal violence that broke out in the region in 2013.
Opposition parties have alleged that Sharma is close to Adityanath. While this might just be a perception, the Election Commission has in the past acted on similar perceptions and shunted out such officials during elections.
EC’s transfer orders during West Bengal Assembly Elections
Take the example of West Bengal. It is noteworthy, that on March 14, 2021, the Election Commission of India (ECI) in an unprecedented move either suspended or transferred some of the top most Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in the state of West Bengal, purportedly for their failure to prevent the injury caused to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 10 in Nandigram. The most high-profile suspension was that of Vivek Sahay IPS, Director Security. The ADG rank officer was highly respected in Bengal’s police establishment, and his suspension raised eyebrows.
At that time, the EC had also shunted out two top cops Virendra and Javed Shamim, purportedly due to their perceived closeness to Mamata Banerjee. Interestingly, shortly after taking oath as Chief Minister, Banerjee brought back Virendra as Director General of Police (DGP) and Javed Shamim as Additional Director General (ADG) Law and Order.
In fact, many political parties had also made a representation to the EC to remove Surajit Kar Purakayastha from the post of State Security Adviser (SSA). It is noteworthy that the 1985-batch IPS officer was previously (2016-2018) the Director General of Police in the state, and before that the Police Commissioner of Kolkata. Perhaps because of this he was perceived to be close to Mamata Banerjee. After all, the position of the SSA was created especially for the retired IPS officer in 2018. However, though it was clearly a political appointment, SSA is an apolitical post.
Therefore, one cannot be blamed to perceive the EC’s reluctance to shunt out Sharma as DM of Varanasi as an example of a curious double standard.
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