New Delhi, February 7
The Election Commission today warned the government employees on election duty, especially in Bihar, of stern action under the service rules if they violated the election rules.
Taking serious note of some government officials not reporting the incident of booth capturing or rigging in their diaries, the commission said it was perturbed by the large number of polling stations going for repoll even in first phase of polls due to lack of strict adherence of election rules and guidelines.
The Election Commission headquarters here found that in several polling booths, especially in Bihar, during the first phase of polling presiding officers were found not making entries about irregularities in
their registers, commission sources said.
The number of polling booths, that went to repolls again today and yesterday, was more than 1,000 in Bihar alone, sources said.
In the phase one, more than 13,800 polling stations were set up by the commission and polling was held for 64 Assembly constituencies. The repoll was ordered in around 8 per cent of polling stations.
The commission sources said not reporting irregularities at the polling booths amounts to promoting rigging.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission assured a BJP delegation on deployment of additional Central para-military forces during the second and third phase of elections in Bihar and Jharkhand.
The assurance was given to BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley and vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi after they handed over a memorandum to the the three-member Commission this evening, seeking deployment of additional paramilitary forces for the second and third phases of elections in two states.
