M A I N   N E W S

No outing for poll observers
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 5
Election observers deployed in the border belt today were caught in a quagmire as a plan drawn up for taking them on an intensive sight-seeing tour stood cancelled at the behest of the Chief Electoral Officer. The programme was allegedly prepared and circulated on behalf of the IGP (Border Range), Mr Rajan Gupta.

Taking prompt action, the Chief Electoral Officer Mr G.S. Cheema, sent a fax message to the Deputy Commissioners of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepore, asking them to intimate all election observers not to take part in any excursion activity. The letter of Mr Cheema (number 135/37, dated February 4) titled “Punjab Vidhan Sabha-excursion by observers” reads that, “It is learnt that an excursion is being arranged for the benefit of the observers of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepore to a number of places of tourist interests. It may be brought to the notice of the observers that such a plan is fraught with risk and they would be well advised to drop it. It is also observed that it is during these days that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are to be transferred to the counting centres and the presence of the observers will be required at the time of preparing the EVMs for the poll”.

According to an unsigned tentative programme, a lunch was to be hosted by the (Border Range) on February 5 at the Harike Sanctuary. They (the observers) were also to visit the historical Gurdwara Baoli Sahi at Goindwal. The IGP was to host a dinner on February 6 in collaboration with the district administration of Amritsar and Gurdaspur. On February 8 the observers were to visit Ranjit Sagar Dam in Gurdaspur district and lunch was to be arranged at Ravi Sadan Rest House (Shahpur Kandi). There was a plan to take the observers to mata Vaishno Devi Shrine on February 8 on a private visit. After a day of rest, they were to visit Dera Beas and Adleshwar in Batala on February 10. Two days after the polling, they were to undertake a private visit to Mata Jawalaji, Mata Chawinda Devi and Dharamsala from February 15.

When contacted, Mr Rajan Gupta, IG, said the programme was circulated as the observers wanted to know the places of interest in the region. About the dinner and lunch which was proposed to be hosted by him, he said it was a routine matter. He, however, added that the observers were not going anywhere as it (the excursion) amounted to the violation of the code.

According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, a senior IAS officer who had been appointed as an election observer in the border belt, took a serious note of the fax message conveyed to him through a Deputy Commissioner. He wrote back to Mr Cheema, saying that he knew any excursion was a violation of the model of conduct. “The unsigned tentative programme was in bad taste”, he wrote. He further stated that after an inquiry he had learnt that the programme was circulated by Mr Gupta. He asked the Chief Electoral Officer to initiate appropriate action against the erring officer.