Congress leader JP Agarwal demands action against Returning Officer of Chandni Chowk seat

Congress leader JP Agarwal, who had lost from the Chandni Chowk seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Tuesday demanded action against the returning officer of the constituency for alleged inconsistencies in counting of votes.

Agarwal met a senior official at the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Delhi and submitted a complaint in this regard.

Agarwal was defeated from the seat by Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan by a margin of over 2.28 lakh votes.

In his detailed complaint addressed to the CEO Delhi, Agarwal alleged that strongrooms, where EVMs were stored after voting were opened in the absence of his representatives for counting.

He demanded that CCTV footage and video recordings of counting centres should be provided. Earlier, a complaint was filed by him with the Delhi CEO on the day of counting of votes on May 23.

"Before counting had started, my election agent Mudit Agarwal and my nominee for returning officer table Atam Agarwal were accompanying election observer for de-sealing of strong rooms containing the EVMs.

"The strong room of Ballimaran Assembly constituency under Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat was de-sealed in the absence my election agent and returning officer table nominee. They informed the RO about the happenings, but she did not pay much heed to what they were saying," Agarwal said in his complaint.

He charged that strong rooms of eight Assembly constituencies were de-sealed in the absence of his representatives.

"It is quite possible that the strong rooms were de-sealed much earlier to the counting day, which can only be verified by seeing CCTV footage," he said.

Agarwal, who represented Chandni Chowk parliamentary seat twice in the past, also demanded setting up of an enquiry committee to look into his complaint and a stay on the election result till probe is complete.

A senior official at CEO Delhi office said that Agarwal's complaint was received and will be looked into.