Hoshiarpur villagers allege they were not allowed to vote

These voters belong to Khakhli village under Sham Chaurasi constituency of Hoshiarpur district. The villagers said that they had been casting their votes at the Bassi Mudda polling booth for the past many elections.

Former Panchayat member of the village,Gurmail Singh,said that on January 30,when they went to polling booth in Bassi Mudda,they were stopped by the election staff on the pretext that their voter list was not available with them.

The villagers also alleged that they had informed the SAD and Congress candidates from the constituency about the matter and they (candidates) had assured them to talk to election officials and arrange for them to cast their vote,but nothing had happened in this direction till date. Both the candidates,Ram Lubhaya (Congress) and Mohinder Kaur Josh (SAD) could not be contacted.

When contacted Returning Officer (RO) Sham Chaurasi,AS Bhullar,said that no such complaint has been made in this regard. He added that if the villagers were denied to vote then they should have reported the matter to him or other senior officer. He said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) could have been contacted by the villagers.

Report submitted in Koundla case

In the case of 156 persons of Koundla village voting for wrong seat,a report has been sent to the Punjab Electoral Officer by District Election Officer after getting the same from the returning officer. It may be noted that 156 voters of Koundla village in Hoshiarpur constituency had voted at Bassi Chaura under Chabbewal constituency. After delimitation,Koundla falls in the area of the Hoshiarpur seat while Bassi Chaura came under the Chhabewal seat. Earlier,both villages had a common polling station in Bassi Chaura.