BJP MLC Devendra Pratap Singh from Gorakhpur-Faizabad Graduate constituency has written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in the counting of votes for the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
He has demanded repolling at three polling booths, a forensic examination of ballot papers and a recount under the supervision of the Allahabad High Court.
In his letter dated October 29, Singh alleged that district administration officials manipulated the counting process to alter the preference ranking of independent candidate Rajiv Yadav. He claimed that votes marked as Yadav’s first preference were changed to fourth preference through what he described as deliberate tampering during the counting process.
Singh alleged that Yadav initially received 376 first-preference votes, while BJP candidate Dhruv Kumar Tripathi received 970 votes. However, he claimed that officials subsequently changed Yadav’s first-preference votes to fourth-preference votes through a single entry and the handwriting of one person. He also alleged that officials marked first preference as fourth preference for Yadav and entered first preference against Tripathi’s name where the relevant space was blank.
ALLEGes TAMPERING AT 3 POLLING BOOTHS
Singh alleged that the seals on ballot boxes at booth number 84 in Deoria and booth numbers 111 and 115 in Mau were broken. He demanded a forensic examination of the ballot papers from all three booths, claiming that such an examination could establish whether officials tampered with the votes.
He further alleged that officials received 50 more ballot papers than the number recorded at booth number 115 in Mau. Singh claimed that the administration did not announce the results in writing after counting the votes from each round, despite the requirement to declare the results after every round.
CLAIMS INTIMIDATION DURING COUNTING
Singh also alleged that officials at the counting centre verbally abused agents representing Rajiv Yadav, assaulted them and intimidated the independent candidate. He claimed that officials forced Yadav to sign the certificate confirming the final counting results.
The BJP MLC accused district administration officials of large-scale irregularities and urged the Chief Election Commissioner to order a fresh poll at the three booths. He also sought a forensic examination of the ballot papers and a recount under the supervision of the Allahabad High Court, along with disciplinary action against all officials allegedly involved in the irregularities.
Singh further demanded that authorities suspend the victory certificate issued under alleged coercion until the fresh polling and investigation conclude.
– Ends
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