Haryana Aam Aadmi Party vice-president Anurag Dhanda on Monday accused the Kaithal election officials of biased behaviour against the party for registering a criminal case against an AAP worker for allegedly exposing a “discrepancy” in the home voting process for the senior citizens and demanding that it be made foolproof.
‘ECI guidelines’
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, however, maintained that the election process was being carried out as per the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.
The matter pertains to a video recorded by AAP worker Satbir Goyat two days ago raising concerns of possible tampering with the postal ballots, pointing out that the envelope and the box in which the postal ballots were being kept by the polling team in Kaithal’s Qutubpur village were not sealed.
An FIR was registered against Mr. Goyat on Sunday on charges of obstructing a public servant in discharge of his public functions under the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Representation of the People Act.
Questioning the registration of the FIR, Mr. Dhanda, at a press conference, said instead of rectifying the process and making it foolproof, the election officials in Kaithal were targetting someone who had raised a valid concern. “We are raising question over the process. It needs to be rectified. While in Qutubpur village the polling team did not put the seal on the box and the envelope, the polling teams in Kalayat sealed the boxes. The guidelines should be unambiguous and the process should be foolproof,” said Mr. Dhanda, sharing a short video with the polling team carrying a sealed ballot box.
Haryana CEO Anurag Agarwal told The Hindu over phone that the process was as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India. “There are no instructions from the ECI to seal the ballot boxes,” he said.
He added that instead of upholding the sanctity of the election process, the AAP worker made a video which prompted the other senior citizens in the village to not cast their votes. Mr. Agarwal said that instead of disturbing the process, the party worker should have raised concerns with the authorities in writing.
