On Wednesday, March 9, three officials in Uttar Pradesh were removed from election duty, one day after the head of the Samajwadi Party (SP) Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP had “stolen” votes and alleged electronic voting machines were being moved in an unauthorised manner.
In a number of districts, he claimed, ballots were intercepted in vehicles that were transporting them. The officials were replaced on instructions from the Election Commission.
According to reports, in Varanasi, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Sanjay Kumar has replaced Nalini Kant Singh, who was removed from election duty for negligence in EVM transportation. Additionally, Singh has been prohibited from visiting the counting spot. Meanwhile, the additional election officer in Bareilly, V K Singh, has been removed from his election duties after ballot boxes and other election items were found in a garbage bin of a local municipality.
Ramesh Kumar, the returning officer for the Ghorawal polling station, was removed from election duties in Sonbhadra district after ballot slips were recovered from a vehicle belonging to the additional district magistrate.
In view of the situation, two FIRs have been registered by the police against 300 unknown people for violence and hooliganism while protesting the transportation of EVMs on Tuesday, March 8.
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As counting of votes enters its fifth hour on Thursday, March 10, Yogi Adityanath looks set to return to office as Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister. As per the initial data, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a comfortable lead over rivals in India’s politically most important state.
While Yadav’s Samajwadi Party gained from the last election, it fell far short of its expectations, trailing with roughly half the seats.
