Lucknow: Election Commission of India on Monday ordered the removal of a senior IAS officer from election observer duty, directed the suspension of six officers and initiated disciplinary proceedings against 21 polling personnel over alleged lapses in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council elections.An FIR was also lodged in Sultanpur over allegations of forged signatures on 26 applications seeking deletion of voters from the electoral roll.The developments came amid heightened scrutiny of the electoral process following complaints of irregularities in the teachers’ constituencies of the legislative council and allegations of fraudulent voter deletion applications.In the first case, ECI removed 2007-batch IAS officer Abhay Singh as observer for the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency, where polling is scheduled for Tuesday (Oct 27).According to an official communication issued by the office of UP chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa, Singh has been placed in reserve, while 2009-batch IAS officer Prakash Bindu has been appointed in his place.The official communication did not specify the reasons for removal of Singh from duty.The commission directed Bindu to report in the constituency to oversee the polling process on Oct 27.The development followed a complaint submitted to ECI by a sitting BJP MLC, who alleged irregularities in the election process.In a separate development, ECI ordered the immediate suspension of six officers, including two sector magistrates and four police personnel, for supervisory lapses during polling in the Agra division teachers’ constituency.The commission also directed disciplinary proceedings against 21 other polling personnel deployed at polling stations 21 and 26, where repolling was conducted on Monday following the annulment of the earlier polling.In a letter to CEO Navdeep Rinwa on Monday, ECI secretary Suman Kumar Das observed that officers entrusted with supervisory responsibilities had failed to ensure effective supervision and maintain proper control within and around the polling stations.The commission termed the dereliction of duty as “serious” and said it could not be condoned.At polling station 21 in Saiyan, the commission ordered the suspension of sector magistrate OP Chak, sector police officer, inspector Hariharan Singh, and sub-inspector Sandeep Kumar.Similarly, at polling station 26 in Fatehabad, sector magistrate Vishal Rathore, inspector Purushottam Pal and sub-inspector Sumit Tyagi were also suspended.ECI directed the authorities to issue chargesheets against the six officers and forward draft chargesheets to the commission for vetting within 10 days.Disciplinary proceedings were also ordered against polling personnel, including presiding officers, polling officers, head constables and constables, in accordance with the findings of an inquiry conducted by the divisional commissioner.The commission sought a compliance report from the authorities concerned.Meanwhile, in Sultanpur, police lodged an FIR following allegations that forged signatures of a voter, Nand Lal, were used to submit 26 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of names from the electoral roll.The matter surfaced after Samajwadi Party, during a news conference on Oct 15, alleged a conspiracy to remove voters through fraudulent applications.According to the UP CEO’s office, an inquiry conducted by the electoral registration officer of Sadar assembly constituency (189) found that 26 Form-7 applications purportedly bearing Nand Lal’s signatures were submitted to the booth level officer (BLO) at polling station 96, Primary School Arjunpur, Room 1.However, officials clarified that the applications were not accepted for processing as they lacked essential details, including the applicant’s name, voter identity card number and mobile number.The BLO was subsequently removed from election duty for receiving incomplete applications without verifying the identity of the applicant. Disciplinary action against the official was also recommended to the department concerned.Following the inquiry, the BLO supervisor lodged an FIR at Gosainganj police station on Oct 24 for forgery, use of forged documents and cheating.Election officials maintained that none of the 26 Form-7 applications were approved and no name was deleted from the electoral roll.
