Gurgaon, February 18
Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said today that he would move court against Election Commission’s (EC) decision to
pre-pone counting of votes for Haryana Assembly elections and defended his government’ move of suspending senior IAS officer Bhaskar Chatterjee.
Mr Chautala, while interacting with newspersons after addressing his party workers’ meeting, said the EC action was malafide against his government, the INLD and him and was taken at the behest of the Congress. It is downright illegal, he said.
“I will create a situation whereby the EC will have to appear before the court to defend itself against the indefensible”, he said.
He said the re-polling at six booths was to take place on February 23, the day fixed for the counting of votes, according to the EC’s revised schedule. The
voters would cast their votes even after 4 pm, when the counting of votes would begin. Sometimes the voting time was extended even beyond 6 pm. “In such a situation will not the counting of votes influence the voting pattern?” he asked.
He further said the voting pattern would be affected, especially in Beri in Jhajjar district and Mewla Maharajupur in Faridabad district.
Secondly, around 1,60,000 serving Army personnel, many of them posted at far-flung places are to send their votes till February 27. The “arbitrary” decision of the EC will affect the voting pattern of the Army personnel, he added.
He stressed on the point that the Army personnel were “my supporters on account of the good works that my government has done for them.” He cited the raising of relief money for the families of the Army personnel who laid down their lives in the Kargil war. The decision to
pre-pone the counting of votes is part of a conspiracy between the EC and the Congress-led government at the Centre, he said.
According to him, there are a large number of Army personnel who will send their votes for the election to the Sahlawas Assembly seat.
In response to a question on the EC seeking report on the suspension of the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning, Mr Bhaskar Chatterjee, he said his government had always intervened whenever there was a violation of democratic rights of anyone, including officers of the state.
He claimed that his government straightened the service records of several officers who were “botched up” by the Bansi Lal regime. “It is because of my intervention and public spirit that I have also made enemies in some quarters”, he added.
When pressed on the EC asking report on the suspension, he snubbed the mediapersons. He avoided reply on the issue when pressed further. A newsman was subjected to a sharper snub when he pointed out of allegation by the State’s Commission for Disabilities that the EC did not provide facilities to ensure the secrecy of the physically challenged, especially blind persons.
“It is not your field of study. It is between the physically handicapped, the EC and the commission”, he said reprimanding the newsman.
Regarding the current political scenario in the state, he observed that only Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Birender Singh from the Congress were in the race for the post of Chief Minister.
When pointed out by a journalist that he appeared to be harsh on the newspersons during his workers’ meeting, he said they should also pose the same question to themselves with regard to him. He said the INLD workers found to have played a dubious role during the elections would be expelled from the party.
He urged upon the party workers and agents at the stations to be vigilant at the time of counting of votes. He asserted that his party would secure majority and form a government in the state. This will belie media speculations, he added.
