Amid complaints from opposition parties about alleged irregularities in the UP polls, the Election Commission has also appointed special officers to monitor counting of votes in Meerut and Varanasi.
"A day after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of stealing votes, three officials in Uttar Pradesh were removed from election duty on Wednesday, claiming that electronic voting machines were being transferred in an unauthorised manner." He had also claimed that vehicles carrying ballot papers were stopped in at least three districts.
The officers were transferred on the directions of the Election Commission.
A nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been removed from election duty, news agency PTI reported.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Varanasi Nalini Kant Singh has been removed from election duty for alleged laxity in EVM transport. Singh has also been barred from entering the counting centre.
Additional Returning Officer V K Singh was removed from election duty in Bareilly after ballot boxes and other election material were found inside a garbage collection bin of a local municipal body in the outer area, PTI reported. While ballot papers were recovered from a box inside the vehicle of the additional district magistrate in Sonbhadra district, the returning officer of Ghorawal, Ramesh Kumar, was removed from the election process.
Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said all the EVMs were scrutinised late last night in the presence of election observers and candidates after the ruckus over the alleged replacement of EVMs, Ballot units and VVPATs were checked.
Meanwhile, two FIRs have been registered by the police against 300 unidentified persons for violence and vandalism while opposing transport of EVMs on Tuesday.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday night, alleging that the state administration was indulging in voter fraud. Boxes were recovered from a garbage disposal truck in Bareilly. It had three compartments. One had plain ballot papers while the other had stamped ballot papers. EVMs were also being taken to Sonbhadra when people caught them. You can confirm from the district magistrate that there are calls from Lucknow that the counting process should be slow and extended till evening in places where the BJP is losing.
The SP also uploaded a video of an officer on his Twitter handle admitting that necessary protocols were not followed in transporting EVMs on Tuesday.
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 9, 2022
वाराणसी में EVM पकड़े जाने का समाचार उप्र की हर विधानसभा को चौकन्ना रहने का संदेश दे रहा है।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) March 8, 2022
मतगणना में धांधली की कोशिश को नाकाम करने के लिए सपा-गठबंधन के सभी प्रत्याशी और समर्थक अपने-अपने कैमरों के साथ तैयार रहें।
युवा लोकतंत्र व भविष्य की रक्षा के लिए मतगणना में सिपाही बने!
Meanwhile, amid complaints from opposition parties about alleged irregularities in the UP polls, the Election Commission has deputed special officers to monitor counting in Meerut and Varanasi. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi will oversee the counting process in Meerut while the CEO of Bihar will oversee Varanasi.
Apart from Uttar Pradesh, counting of votes will also take place in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
👍👍👍👍
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