BJP cries foul, asks EC to remove biased poll officials

Lucknow: Alleging that some poll officials were trying to influence the Uttar Pradesh electoral process in favour of the ruling BSP, the BJP today made a fresh demand for their removal. [caption id=“attachment_196480” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The BJP has asked the Election Commission to take direct action against biased polling officers: PTI”] [/caption] “The BJP had been repeatedly saying that some officers posted in the secretariat were trying to influence the polls and had petitioned the EC to identify them,” party spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. Pathak also referred to a letter sent on Tuesday by the Election Commission’s principal secretary R K Srivastava to the state chief secretary asking him to ensure that no telephonic or oral orders are issued by field officers. “Some officials are trying to influence the poll process in favour of ruling BSP and this is evident from the letter written by the EC to the state government,” he said. The BJP spokesman said after taking cognisance of the issue, the commission should now directly get into the act and remove the officials involved, rather than merely shooting off letters, especially as polling was slated to start in the next couple of days. “The party will again write a letter to the EC in this regard and demand removal of these officials,” Pathak said. Read all our election coverage PTI