EC orders detailed probe into Patna, Madhepura, Baghpat polls
The Election Commission today ordered a detailed inquiry into alleged booth capturing in the Patna, Madhepura
and Baghpat Lok Sabha constituencies and a repoll at 599 polling
booths in nine states where polling was held on Monday.
The hearing regarding the complaints of booth capturing in the Patna
Lok Sabha seat will be heard by secretary to the Commission K G Rao
at 1500 hours on Wednesday, February 18, in Patna in the office of the chief electoral officer.
The hearing into the allegations regarding Madhepura will be
heard at Delhi at the Commission's headquarters on February 20 by
secretary to the Commission C R Brahmam. EC secretary L H Faruqi will hear the complaints regarding Baghpat on February 21.
The Election Commission said it had received reports of
vitiation of the poll process from some constituencies. While most
complaints were of a minor nature, others like those of Patna,
Madhepura and Baghpat were very serious. Allegations of extensive
booth-capturing had come in from these three constituencies.
At the hearings, the candidates and their authorised agents or
counsels would be allowed to present their cases, the Commission
said.
In Assam, repolling at nine polling booths will be done on
February 18 and at the remaining 202 booths on February 20.
Polling for five booths in Haryana, three in Jammu and Kashmir,
and four in Meghalaya will be held on February 18.
Polling in 15 booths in Manipur, 70 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in
Karnataka, 238 in Andhra Pradesh and 43 in Rajasthan will be held on
February 19, the EC said.
UP Chief Electoral Officer Noor Mohammad has ordered a repoll on February 19 in 200 polling stations spread over 29 parliamentary
constituencies of the state.
Mohammad said that repolling was necessiated at these 200
polling stations following incidents of various irregularities
during the first phase of the election in 52 of the 85
constituencies in the state on Monday.
Polling had been vitiated through the snatching of ballot boxes,
unlawful marking of ballot papers, booth capturing and pouring of
water into ballot boxes besides some reports of violence at
different places.
Mainpuri, which witnessed two incidents of firing in which two
Samajwadi Party workers were injured, will have 13
polling stations.
In Mirzapur, where Phoolan Devi is in the fray, repolling will be conducted at 18 polling stations.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the United Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party
demanded a fresh poll in Madhepura, claiming ''large-scale
booth-capturing'' in Monday's poll.
United Front leaders today met Chief Election Commissioner Dr M
S Gill and demanded repolling in the Madhepura,
Jehanabad, and Nalanda Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. In Madhepura, one of the candidates is former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav.
The UF deputation, comprising Surinder Mohan and Mohan
Prakash (Janata Dal), Prakash Karat (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and
Communist Party of India secretary Shamim Faizi, accused the Bihar government of large-scale ''planned rigging, booth-capturing'' and other malpractices.
The UF delegation alleged that no security personnel
were present at most of the polling booths in Madhepura, and
that various groups of armed goons in vehicles
were ''prowling'' around at Laloo Prasad Yadav's behest.
The deputation claimed that the RJD, in collusion with the administration,
had openly indulged in rigging and terrorising voters and rendering the election
process a ''farcical exercise.'' It added that as part of a conspiracy, the paramilitary
forces assigned for duty in Madhepura and the other two constituencies were kept
in the police barracks.
Moreover, despite the large-scale violence, the local
police had not registered a single complaint in any police station
of the area, the delegation alleged.
The UF deputation warned that if the EC failed to order repolling in these three seats
of Bihar, the next phase of polling on February 22 would also witness
violence, rigging, and booth-capturing Bihar and the other parts of the country.
The deputation also demanded repolling at various polling booths
in the Patna, Begusarai and Khagaria constituencies.
This BJP-Samata Party delegation, led by BJP
general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu and consisting of Ashwani Kumar, Arun Jetley
(all BJP), and Jaya Jaitley (Samata), also met Dr Gill in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Naidu told reporters that they had demanded fresh
polls in Madhepura as ''an act of warning'' for the second phase of
elections in Bihar.
The delegation wanted repolling in 765 booths where violence and booth-capturing was reported on Monday.
Naidu alleged that most of the booth capturing were
done by supporters of Laloo Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and
in some places by police acting at the
behest of the ruling RJD. The polling booths were spread over 14
parliamentary constituencies of Bihar.
They also wanted repolling in 300 booths in the Danapur assembly
segment of Patna that were affected by
poll violence.
The BJP-Samata delegation complained to the
Commission that central forces were not sent to sensitive and hypersensitive
areas by the state administration. It demanded that the Commission guard the ballot boxes carefully.
Dr Gill has also instructed the Election Commissioner of Tamil Nadu
to ensure that a private television channel did not violate the
Commission's instructions regarding poll telecasts and immediately suspends
its half-hourly appeals being telecast with a religious touch.
UNI
RELATED REPORT:
Bihar death toll rises to 29
EARLIER REPORT:
Bihar makes a mockery of elections
Elections '98
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