SP defeats BSP by only two votes?

IN A sudden turn of fortunes, Samajwadi Party candidate for the post of zila panchayat chairperson, Rekha Singh, was said to have won the prestigious election defeating her only rival, Kesari Devi, of the Bahujan Samaj Party by a margin of two votes.

IN A sudden turn of fortunes, Samajwadi Party candidate for the post of zila panchayat chairperson, Rekha Singh, was said to have won the prestigious election defeating her only rival, Kesari Devi, of the Bahujan Samaj Party by a margin of two votes.

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While sitting chairperson Kesari Devi could only garner 34 votes, the SP candidate managed to secure 36 votes. One vote was found invalid.

However, the results were yet to be officially announced. Kesari Devi and her supporters have demanded re-election and there were speculations that the election might be cancelled.

The election result left many poll pundits surprised, as the BSP had been in a commanding position since the beginning with the support of a majority of zila panchayat members. The possibility of horse-trading was also not ruled out by some BSP workers.

The fact that Kesari Devi had entered the zila panchayat premises with 39 members, including herself, to cast vote lent credence to their apprehension.

Seventy-one candidates, out of the total strength of 75 members, turned up to cast their votes in this election in which both the administration and the police had been on their toes since several days.

The police had helped the SP in the abduction, alleged Kesari Devi while talking to mediapersons just after polling was over.

Before any official announcement was made, a visibly upset Kesari Devi came out of the zila panchayat building and accused the observer, Devdutt, and DIG Akhilesh Mehrotra of adopting all measures to tilt the election result in favour of the SP.

Kesari Devi openly accused the observer of personally casting two votes in favour of her rival. She also lashed out at the DIG accusing him of helping the ruling SP. However, she spared the district magistrate, but dubbed him as a “mute spectator who found himself helpless in the presence of the observer and the DIG”. She demanded that all officers who helped the SP candidate to win the election through manipulations be immediately removed.

DIG Akhilesh Mehrotra, also holding the charge of SSP, said charges against him were baseless and unfounded. Neither the police nor the administration had done anything to help the winning candidate. “Our job was to maintain peace and order and we have been performing our duties to that end,” he said.

Reacting to Kesari Devi’s allegations, Rekha Singh said these were not unusual by those who lost in an election.