Day after Akhilesh alleges EVM theft, EC removes three UP officials from poll duty

The Election Commission, amid complaints from opposition parties about alleged irregularities in UP polls, has also deputed special officers to supervise the counting of votes in Meerut and Varanasi.

Samajwadi Party workers stop the convoy shifting EVMs and stage a protest over the alleged replacement of EVMs used in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, in Varanasi, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Three officials were removed from election duty in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, a day after Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of “stealing” votes and claimed that electronic voting machines were being shifted in an unauthorised manner. He had also claimed that vehicles transporting ballots were intercepted in at least three districts.

The officials were replaced on the directions of the Election Commission.

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The nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been pulled out from election duties, a day ahead of the counting of votes in UP, news agency PTI reported.

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Varanasi Additional DM Nalini Kant Singh has been removed from the election duty for negligence in EVM transportation. She has been replaced by Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Sanjay Kumar. Singh has also been barred from going to the counting spot, PTI reported.

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Additional Election Officer V K Singh was removed from the election duty in Bareilly after ballot boxes and other election items were found inside a garbage collection bin of the local municipality in the Baheri area, PTI reported. In Sonbhadra district, where ballot slips were recovered from a box inside the vehicle of the additional district magistrate, Ghorawal returning officer Ramesh Kumar was removed from election process.

Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said all EVMs were checked late in the night in the presence of election observers and candidates after the ruckus over the alleged replacement of EVMs on Tuesday. All control units, ballot units and VVPATs were checked, he added.

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Meanwhile, two FIRs have been registered by the police against 300 unknown people for violence and hooliganism while protesting the transportation of EVMs on Tuesday.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday night, had alleged that the state administration was indulging in voter fraud. “In Varanasi, EVMS were being transported. Boxes were recovered from a garbage disposal truck in Bareilly. There were three boxes. One had plain ballot papers, while there were also ballot papers with seals. In Sonbhadra as well, EVMs were being taken when people apprehended them. You can confirm from the district magistrate that calls are being made from Lucknow that in places where the BJP is losing, the counting process should be slow and extended till evening,” he said.

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The SP also uploaded a video at its Twitter handle of an official admitting that the required protocol was not followed in transporting the EVMs on Tuesday.

EVM मूवमेंट में चुनाव आयोग के प्रोटोकॉल का पालन नहीं किया गया- कमिश्नर वाराणसी

कई जिलों में ईवीएम में हेरा-फेरी की जानकारी प्राप्त हो रही है। ये किसके इशारे पर हो रहा है? क्या अधिकारियों पर सीएम ऑफिस से दबाव बनाया जा रहा है?

चुनाव आयोग कृपया स्पष्ट करे @ECISVEEP @ceoup pic.twitter.com/D71xr8h8Tu

— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) March 9, 2022

Meanwhile, the Election Commission, amid complaints from opposition parties about alleged irregularities in UP polls, has deputed special officers to supervise the counting of votes in Meerut and Varanasi. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi will oversee the counting process in Meerut, while Bihar’s CEO will oversee Varanasi.

Along with Uttar Pradesh, counting of votes will take place in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur on Thursday.

With PTI inputs