A CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Techi Rana, an independent MP candidate from Arunachal West parliamentary constituency, claimed that the polling agents of BJP and INC had agreed to share equal votes during the electoral process held at 24-Kheel polling station under Sagalee constituency.
Rana, in a representation submitted to the state chief electoral officer (CEO), has alleged that an audio clip doing around various social media platforms, confirms the authenticity of his claims, and thereby confirming the electoral misconduct.
He has appealed to the CEO to initiate time bound action against the responsible polling officers, including the presiding officer for negligence; thereby, to conduct fresh repoll.
Addressing the media at the press club today, Nillo Banna, a representative of the candidate, said that the entire misconduct during the electoral process was revealed through the conversation between the Polling Officer (PO) and the polling agent of INC. The audio reveals that the PO along with the polling agents of BJP and INC was not only involved in vote sharing but also proxy voting and bribery.
He said the telephonic conversation was made between the PO and the second INC polling agent (Tana Tatu). Wherein, it was clearly stated that the BJP and INC agreed to share votes equally. Also, the first INC agent has voted for the voters who were already dead. The entire conversation was in Nyishi dialect.
“Moreover, the audio clip also confirms the involvement of the Returning Officer (RO), where she agreed upon the idea of vote sharing and bogus voting between the BJP and INC, in good faith,” he said, adding that information was disclosed in the conversation by the first PO.
Further, he said that the INC polling agent, was also offered an amount of Rs. 30,000 by the BJP, to cast vote for against the absentees for BJP-MP. However, the agent straightly refused to accept the proposal.
“We came to know that the entire deal of vote sharing and bogus voting was made between the BJP agents and the first INC polling agent. And, sadly, it was supported by the election officials,” he said.
The casting of proxy votes is a violation of RPA, 1951and election conduct rule, 1961. Likewise, involvement of money in elections is illegal and also officers offering favour is a violation of central civil services (conduct) rules, 1964.
Therefore, MP candidate Techi Rana has appealed to the EC to re-conduct the polls and initiate action against the officials involved in misconduct of the voting process at 24-Kheel polling station under Papumpare district.
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