Milkipur Assembly Bypoll: SP moves EC seeking transfer of 3 SHOs over ‘filing false cases against its workers’

The complaint was sent to the EC by the Opposition party’s state president Shyam Lal Pal alleging that these SHOs were trying to intimidate their members, preventing them from campaigning, and thus hindering the process of a free and fair election.

Pal requested that the three be shifted out of the district and the FIRs filed by them on false charges be quashed so as to ensure a free and fair election.

To support its allegations, the party has attached the copies of the FIRs filed against its office-bearers, workers and supporters. “We have copies of 10 FIRs in which over a dozen party workers, office-bearers, sector in-charges and pradhans supporting us were booked in the last six days. The cases are of alleged physical assault, criminal intimidation and extortion. This has created an atmosphere of fear in the constituency, affecting the election process,” said SP’s district president Paras Nath Yadav.

The party workers named in the cases are underground fearing their arrest, he added.

“The number of cases against SP workers and leaders started filing soon after the Election Commission declared the polling date. It appears that cases of physical assault and other offences are being lodged in only these three police stations,” Yadav said.

Among those named in the purported false cases are SP’s Ayodhya district general secretary Bakhtiyar Khan, district secretary Ram Bahadur Yadav, party’s Milkipur block president Ramtej Yadav, party ‘s district executive member and village head Mohammad Rais Ahmed, alias Niyaz, Milkipur block secretary Kashiram Pal, former pradhan Purushottam Das, Bhadokhara village head Lalu Yadav, Baraipara pradhan Ramlahu Yadav, and booth in-charge Hidesh Yadav, according to the complaint.

A total of 10 candidates are contesting the by-election, which was announced by the Election Commission on January 7. The last date for withdrawing names was Monday.

The BJP has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan, a lawyer, against SP’s Ajit Prasad, son of Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad.