Raj assembly speaker asks govt to suspend an erring municipal poll official

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi Tuesday directed state government to immediately suspend an election officer found guilty of electoral malpractices during a bypoll in the Abu Road municipality ward.

The speaker gave the direction after an independent MLA, Sanyam Lodha, raised the issue of irregularity in the polls and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Shanti Dhariwal admitted it in the House.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Lodha alleged that the accused election officer added names of some voters of Ward 5 in the list of Ward 13 of the municipality.

He said a complaint was made against this irregularity to the local administration, which ignored it.

But on a subsequent complaint, the Election Commission cancelled the poll, finding the complaint justified.

But the state government till date has taken no action against the erring election officer, added Lodha.

Replying to the issue, Minister Dhariwal conceded negligence at the district election officer-cum-returning officer level, and promised that the action will be taken against the erring official.

At this, Lodha demanded immediate action against the erring official.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, Speaker Joshi said how would people trust the election commission and electoral process, if there is a discrepancy in the voter list.

He said cancelling the election has proved that there was a discrepancy in the election. So, a message should be given by taking action against the responsible election officer without any delay, he added.

State government should suspend the concerned officer today, he said.