RLD chief assails officers bungling in civic polls

The Rashtriya Lok Dal president assailed the official machinery for playing partisan role in local bodies election in the state, reports M Hasan.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Chaudhury Ajit Singh on Thursday assailed the official machinery for playing partisan role in local bodies election in the state. He said there had been bungling in the poll.

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Talking to newsmen in Lucknow on Thursday, Singh said officers had been working under pressure and even the state election commissioner AP Singh changed the order under political pressure. Singh said even the commissioner had accepted that he changed the order under the pressure of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and BJP leader Kalyan Singh. He said it was indeed unfortunate.

The RLD chief said re-polling was ordered in Aligarh but later the decision was changed, which amply indicated that SEC (State Election Commission), was not functioning freely and fairly. He said various decisions of the SEC, including permission to distribute Kanya Vidya Dhan and unemployment allowance, had put question mark on impartiality of the commission. He said Governor was a constitutional authority and he had all the powers to forward complaints of the people to the concerning department. About the SEC's objections on the Governor's letters, Singh said the complaints could not be thrown to dustbin. Pointing out that it was immaterial who complained to the governor and his (governor) decision should be taken seriously.