E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer apologises for sharp comment
Rinwa took to the X handle—CEO Uttar Pradesh—on Tuesday morning to state that the language level, tone, and sharp nature of the comments in the quoted post are not in line with the nature of the communication expected from this official handle. The genuine outrage generated by the comments in the post has been duly noted, he said.
Prefer HTon Google
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa on Tuesday expressed his apology over the tone and sharp nature of a comment posted on his office’s X handle a day after it drew flak from Opposition leaders.
The comment was made in reply after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders raised the issue of a bizarre name in the voter list.
“From now on, our communication will be polite and formal,” Rinwa said.
Rinwa took to the X handle—CEO Uttar Pradesh—on Tuesday morning to state that the language level, tone, and sharp nature of the comments in the quoted post are not in line with the nature of the communication expected from this official handle. The genuine outrage generated by the comments in the post has been duly noted, he said.
“We sincerely apologise to those who are surprised and upset by this. From now on, our communication will be polite and formal,” he posted on X.
Earlier, in a post on X, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh on Monday drew the UP CEO’s attention to an issue raised by party leader Rajesh Yadav concerning the bizarre name “Ram ne Yadav ko maara” (Ram killed Yadav) in the voter list for the legislative council election for the Allahabad-Jhansi graduates’ constituency.
“Why did Ram ultimately kill a “Yadav” specifically? Why didn’t Ram kill a Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai, or Bisht? Is your computer deeply casteist? Are you pushing some party’s agenda? @rajeshyadavaap’s question was valid,” Singh said.
In response, Rinwa said that the voter list for the recent Legislative Council elections contained another similarly bizarre name: “Ram ne Sharma ko mara.” (Ram killed Sharma)
“Computers/software are not casteist. …we made a mistake, but fortunately, even during the mistake, there was no discrimination based on caste. We must also thank God that Ram did not kill any minority. Otherwise, in addition to being casteist, there would also be an accusation of being communal,” he said.
The UP CEO also posted a photo of a voter slip of an individual identified as Ravi Sharma, enrolled in the voter list for the legislative council election for the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduate constituency, in which ‘Ram ne Sharma ko maara’ (Ram killed Sharma) is mentioned in the father’s name column.
Terming the UP CEO’s post on X irresponsible, Sanjay Singh on Monday said the AAP will hold a press conference to respond. “The CEO’s language is communal,” he said.
Congress working committee member Supriya Shrinate asked who was running the handle @ceoup. “Anyway, you folks have no special credibility left to save. The little bit of confusion that exists - this handle is clearing it up all by itself!” she said.
