Chandigarh, April 17
The Election Commissionhas shifted Fatehgarh Sahib expenditure observer MP Yadav out of Punjab. The move came following a report showing his alleged highhandedness and “baseless reporting” against the district electoral officers (DEOs) of Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana.

YP Dhar, a 2006-batch IRS, will be the new observer replacing the 2008-batch IRS officer Yadav, who has been sent to Assam. Yadav was handling nine Assembly segments out of which three fell in Fatehgarh Sahib district, five in Ludhiana and one in Sangrur.

In a written report to the Election Commission, Yadav had alleged that the DEOs of Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana were supporting the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and not looking into cases of blatant violation of poll expenditure limit. He had also alleged that he was mobbed while on duty in Khanna on the instigation of some parties with vested interests.

Alleging major poll violations, he said the local administration was under political pressure. He also alleged that the model code of conduct was not being implemented properly.

The Election Commission marked an inquiry to the CEO who deputed Additional CEO Raminder Singh to look into the matter.