E-Paper
Maloya re-polling: 4 officials suspended for negligence during Chandigarh MC polls
UT state election commissioner SK Srivastava on Monday suspended four officials, including the presiding officer on duty at a polling booth in Maloya, for negligence during the municipal corporation elections on Sunday that led to re-polling on Monday. As many as 703 votes were polled against 685 registered voters at booth 14 of ward 7 (which comprises Maloya besides Sector 39 (West) and grain market) on Sunday. The ward witnessed 71.5% voter turnout.
UT state election commissioner SK Srivastava on Monday suspended four officials, including the presiding officer on duty at a polling booth in Maloya, for negligence during the municipal corporation elections on Sunday that led to re-polling on Monday.
As many as 703 votes were polled against 685 registered voters at booth 14 of ward 7 (which comprises Maloya besides Sector 39 (West) and grain market) on Sunday. The ward witnessed 71.5% voter turnout.
The suspended officials are presiding officer Milap Chand, a trained graduate teacher working at Government High School, Khuda Jassu village, and Panjab University employees Lakshman Singh, a senior assistant, Jagdish Singh, a junior technician, and Rajender Singh, a clerk.
An inquiry has also been ordered into the incident, to be conducted by election observer Tapasya Raghav.
Officer on special duty Tarsem Lal told HT that the officials were suspended after a higher number of votes were polled, raising suspicion (about wrongdoing) when the final polling result was being compiled. “Some votes polled on Sunday were not on the list. It was negligence on the part of the officials concerned,” he said.
RESIDENTS LEFT OUT, STAGE PROTEST
The re-polling at booth 14 was carried out amid residents’ protest. Rasing slogans against the UT administration, around 300 residents of Gursagar Colony in Maloya protested outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Sector 17 for not being allowed to vote on Monday.
Alleging “high-handedness” on part of the UT, Abhinash Singh, a local leader, questioned when the people had voted on Sunday, why were they not being allowed to vote during re-polling?
Tarsem Lal said: “When these votes had already been deleted as per our latest records, how could these be polled? That is why the re-polling was ordered. Let these people protest. The polling will take place for only 685 voters in the area.”
During the re-polling, voters’ right hand finger was inked as that of the left hand was already inked on Sunday.
