|
New
Delhi,
Mar
9:
The
Election
Commission
of
India
on
Wednesday
deputed
special
officers
to
supervise
counting
of
votes
in
Meerut
and
Varanasi
amid
complaints
from
opposition
parties
about
alleged
irregularities
in
the
Uttar
Pradesh
Assembly
polls.
Chief
Electoral
Officer
(CEO)
of
Delhi
has
been
sent
as
a
special
officer
to
oversee
the
counting
process
in
Meerut
and
Bihar’s
CEO
to
Varanasi.
The
counting
of
votes
for
the
recently-concluded
assembly
elections
in
Uttar
Pradesh,
Goa,
Manipur,
Punjab
and
Uttarakhand
will
begin
at
8
am
on
Thursday.
Besides
the
five
states,
counting
of
votes
for
the
by-election
to
Majuli
assembly
seat
of
Assam
will
also
take
place
on
Thursday.
Altogether,
671
counting
observers,
130
police
observers
and
10
special
observers
will
be
on
the
ground
to
ensure
the
counting
process
is
smooth,
the
Commission
said.
“The
Commission
has
also
deputed
two
special
officers
—
CEO
Delhi
(Ranbir
Singh)
to
Meerut
and
CEO
Bihar
(H
R
Srinivas)
to
Varanasi
—
to
supervise
the
counting
arrangements,”
it
added.
In
the
past
also,
electoral
officers
from
different
states
have
been
deployed
as
special
observers
or
special
officers
keeping
in
mind
the
sensitivities,
EC
Secretary
General
Umesh
Sinha
told
reporters.
The
Samajwadi
Party
(SP)
has
alleged
that
electronic
voting
machines
(EVMs)
were
transported
without
the
knowledge
of
political
parties
in
Varanasi
on
Tuesday.
Earlier,
there
were
allegations
of
violation
of
protocol
during
polling
in
Meerut.
The
poll
panel
officials
have
already
rejected
the
allegations
that
EVMs
used
for
voting
in
just-concluded
polls
were
moved
out.
The
voting
took
place
in
seven
phases
in
Uttar
Pradesh,
beginning
February
10
and
ending
on
March
7.
“EC
had
been
deploying
special
observers
wherever
it
has
felt
that
the
supervision
needs
to
be
strengthened.
The
incident
which
took
place
in
Varanasi
on
Tuesday
—
the
Commission
took
a
swift
decision.
We
wanted
to
send
an
officer
who
is
fully
aware
of
the
electoral
process.
“Similarly,
there
were
reports
in
newspapers
on
Meerut,
we
have
sent
CEO
Delhi,”
Senior
Deputy
Election
Commissioner
Chandra
Bhushan
Kumar
said.
He
was
responding
to
a
query
on
why
these
two
districts
were
identified
for
sending
special
observers.
When
asked
about
allegations
levelled
by
the
SP
on
unauthorised
movement
of
EVMs,
EC
Secretary
General
Sinha
said
training
EVM
is
totally
different.
It
cannot
be
used
for
polling
and
it
has
a
different
branding.
“There
have
been
some
rumours
related
to
EVMs
etc.,
which
are
totally
unrelated
to
polled
EVMs
and
in
each
case
of
slightest
breach
of
protocol,
swift
action
has
been
taken
by
the
Commission
against
the
officers
concerned.
“No
person
should
indulge
in
any
rumour
mongering
or
spreading
wrongful
information.
The
Commission
has
directed
CEOs
and
district
administration
to
take
strictest
legal
action
against
such
mongers
and
mischief,”
the
EC
said
in
a
statement.
As
far
as
breach
of
protocol
is
concerned,
EC
took
action
when
it
received
information,
said
Kumar.
Three
officials
were
removed
from
election
duty
in
Uttar
Pradesh
on
Wednesday,
a
day
after
the
SP
alleged
that
the
electronic
voting
machines
were
shifted
in
an
unauthorised
manner.
The
officials
were
replaced
on
the
directions
of
the
Election
Commission.
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
Uttar
Pradesh.
The
EC
said
elaborate
and
foolproof
arrangements
have
been
made
at
all
the
counting
centres.
“All
strong
rooms,
where
polled
EVMs
are
kept,
are
under
three-layered
security
with
inner
cordon
manned
by
central
armed
forces.
Candidates
concerned
have
been
watching
the
strong
room
arrangements
through
CCTV
coverage
of
24×7,”
it
added.
In
states
where
polls
were
held
recently,
the
district
administration
has
imposed
prohibitory
orders
around
the
counting
halls
to
ensure
that
peace
and
tranquility
is
not
disturbed,
it
said.
Political
parties
and
their
candidates
are
also
involved
at
each
stage
related
to
EVM
deployment
during
elections,
the
EC
said.
Counting
of
votes
will
be
taken
up
for
postal
ballots
at
8
am
on
Thursday
and
will
continue
till
its
completion.
After
a
gap
of
30
minutes
from
the
commencement
of
counting
of
postal
ballot
papers,
counting
of
votes
for
EVM
will
commence
at
8.30
am.
“EVM
counting
shall
continue
irrespective
of
the
stage
of
postal
ballot
counting…”
the
EC
statement
said.
In
case
the
margin
of
victory
is
less
than
the
number
of
postal
ballot
papers
rejected
as
invalid
at
the
time
of
counting,
all
the
rejected
postal
ballot
papers
will
be
mandatorily
re-verified
by
the
RO
before
declaration
of
result.
“Whenever
such
re-verification
is
done,
the
entire
proceedings
should
be
videographed…,”
the
poll
panel
added.
PTI