India News | HP Poll Panel Working as BJP Agent for Upcoming Bypolls: Cong

Shimla, Oct 25 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday accused the office of the state's chief electoral officer of working like a BJP poll agent for the upcoming bypolls for a Lok Sabha seat and three assembly seats.

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The bypolls are due for the Mandi Lok Sabha and Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai assembly seats, the voting for which is to be held on October 30.

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The chairperson of the state Congress media cell, Shillai MLA Harshwardhan Chauhan, alleged that his party had submitted over 100 complaints against the BJP but the state's CEO office did not take any action on them under the pressure of the state government.

Demanding from the HP Election Commission to work fairly, Chauhan alleged that the Congress' complaints included those related to the installation of hoardings by the BJP on government buildings and misuse of the rest houses but no action was taken.

The five-time MLA further alleged that the district election officers and returning officers have asked the Asha and Anganwadi workers to attend BJP's election rallies in their areas.

He also alleged that the polling staff have been video-graphing 80-year-old voters, who opted for postal ballots, at the time when they cast their votes.

He demanded that videography during voting by such veteran voters through postal ballots should be stopped immediately to maintain secrecy.

Chauhan further alleged that the polling staff was taking BJP agents with them to the premises of such veteran voters during the casting of votes through postal ballots.

HP Chief Electoral Officer C Paulrasu, however, denied the Congress allegations, terming them as “false”, asserting that his office has been working fairly.

CEO Paulrasu told PTI over the phone that appropriate action was taken in all the complaints received by his office.

Several of the complaints with reports have been forwarded to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for necessary action at its level, he added.

Meanwhile suspecting booth capturing in the Drang area of the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, MLA Harshwardhan Chauhan demanded the deployment of paramilitary forces there to ensure free and fair polling on Saturday.

In Mandi, a direct contest is expected between late Chief Minister Virbhara Singh's wife Pratibha Singh of the Congress and Kargil war hero Brigadier Khushal Chand Thakur of the BJP.

A total of six candidates including Ambika Shyam of the Rashtriya Lokniti Party, Munshi Ram Thakur of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independent candidates Anil Kumar and Subhash Mohan Snehi are in the fray for the Mandi Lok bypoll.

Twelve other candidates are trying their luck for the three assembly seats of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai.

Rebel BJP candidate Chetan Singh Bragta is seen to be giving a tough fight to the BJP's Neelam Seraik in Jubbal-Kotkhai, where four candidates including Congress' Rohit Thakur and independent Suman Kadam are in the fray.

A direct contest is likely between BJP's Rattan Singh Pal and Congress' Sanjay in Arki where independent candidate Jeet Ram is also trying his luck.

In Fatehpur, the main contest is expected between Baldev Thakur of the BJP and Bhawani Singh Pathania of the Congress. In Fatehpur, Pankaj Kumar Darshi of the Himachal Jankranti Party and independents Ashok Kumar Somal and Rajan Sushant are also in the fray.

The bypolls to the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency and three assembly seats of Arki, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Fatehpur were due as they fell vacant following the deaths of sitting lawmakers.

The Mandi seat fell vacant as BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma was found hanging in his official residence in New Delhi on March 17.

Former state minister and Fatehpur Congress MLA Sujan Singh Pathania, former minister and Jubbal-Kotkhai MLA Narinder Bragta and former chief minister and Arki MLA Virbhadra Singh died in February, June and July respectively.

Counting for the Mandi Lok Sabha and the three assembly seats will be held on November 2 after voting on October 30.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)