New Delhi, April 28
The Election Commission today ordered repoll in 502 polling stations in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, while keeping its decision on Chhapra, Siwan (both in Bihar) and Ghazipur (in Uttar Pradesh) pending. The repolling would be held tomorrow.
EC sources said the Commission had sought fresh reports from returning officers, the Chief Electoral Officers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Only after studying the report the decision on repoll or countermanding of elections in Chhapra and Siwan (both Bihar) and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh would be taken, they added.
Sources said the decision on these three constituencies had been put on hold. However, no time-frame was given, when the final decision would be taken.
Earlier in the day, a BJP delegation led by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who is contesting from Chhapra, today met the poll panel and demanded countermanding of elections in the constituency as large-scale electoral malpractices were carried with the assistance of the state government machinery.
The BJP has also demanded repoll in the entire constituency of Ghazipur and also submitted a video film, showing large-scale rigging and violence in the Chhapra constituency, where Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy is pitted against RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav.
Mr Rudy said though the commission termed 800 polling stations as “sensitive”, proper security was deployed in 200 booths and the remaining were left unprotected.
The commission today said repoll had been ordered in 417 polling booths, spread over 15 Parliamentary constituencies in Bihar, 59 polling stations spread over eight parliamentary seats in Jharkhand, 22 polling stations spread over six parliamentary constituencies and one assembly segment in Orissa and four polling stations in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai unit of the Indian Youth Congress today complained to the EC that the BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan was allegedly using the religious forum to campaign for the party.
The complaint said Mr Mahajan, addressing the Sikh community in Nanded had allegedly stated that if “Nanded does not vote for BJP they should not expect to receive monetary assistance from the Centre.”
In an unrelated development, the National Conference has asked the EC to direct the Jammu and Kashmir government to hand over the command and control of Special Operations Group of the state police and the counter insurgency to the Army.
Party president Omar Abdullah, in a letter to the poll panel said that Mufti Sayeed government was misusing its official position and using the services of the SoG and counter-insurgents to scare away National Conference party workers in this South Kashmir district.
