Ex-servicemen’s body elections nullified over graft

The state registrar of societies has declared the Haryana Ex-services League (HESL) district polls in Gurgaon, Mewat and other places as null and void amid complaints of corruption and irregularities. The registrar has ordered fresh elections after appeals and protests from dissident ex-servicemen for the past five months.

The state registrar of societies has declared the Haryana Ex-services League (HESL) district polls in Gurgaon, Mewat and other places as null and void amid complaints of corruption and irregularities. The registrar has ordered fresh elections after appeals and protests from dissident ex-servicemen for the past five months.
The HESL, which is a registered society with its headquarters in Rohtak, has a membership of around 1,30,000 retired defence personnel. It had recently conducted elections to its district units in Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Mewat, Fatehabad, Rewari and Sirsa. The polls at these six districts have been declared null and void.
The registrar, after considering the petitions filed by aggrieved ex-servicemen, reportedly found irregularities on part of the election officer appointed by the HESL. Several objections were also raised against the eligibility of candidates. It was alleged by the dissidents that unfair methods were used to elect persons already selected unofficially by the HESL headquarters.
Col (retd) Maha Singh said, “In all future elections of HESL, it will be ensured that the ex-servicemen employed with DHBVN are not allowed to vote or contest the elections.”
The verdict came as a great relief to the angry and frustrated ex-servicemen who were reportedly frustrated with the high-handedness and the arrogant attitude of the governing body of HESL. “After a struggle of five months justice has now been meted out by the authorities who have ordered fresh elections under the supervision of the district registrar,” said Lt Gen (retd) OS Lohchab.

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