U'khand bypoll:BJP demands appointment of 'impartial' observer

Opposition BJP in Uttarakhand today asked the Election Commission of India to appoint an "impartial observer" for tomorrow's Bhagwanpur Assembly bypoll and sought deployment of para-military personnel throughout the constituency.
A BJP delegation, led by Cantt area MLA Harbans Kapoor and former party legislator Munna Singh Chauhan, today met the Chief Electoral Officer here and handed a memorandum to him addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner expressing apprehensions about "possible misuse" of official machinery by the state government in the constituency in Haridwar district.
The delegation demanded appointment of an "impartial observer" for the seat and deployment of CRPF personnel throughout the constituency to ensure fair polling.

The reserved SC seat goes to polls tomorrow with the ruling Congress and opposition BJP locked there in a straight contest in the absence of BSP and Sanmajwadi Party which have chosen to stay out of the fray.
Bypoll to the seat was necessitated by the death of Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh in February this year.
Congress has fielded his widow Mamata Rakesh from the seat to garner sympathy votes whereas BJP has nominated a greenhorn Rajpal Singh from the seat.

A total of six candidates are in the fray for the bypoll to the seat including four Independents -- Gurmel, Darshana Devi Rathore, Dipak Surya and Pritam Singh.

Surendra Rakesh had won the seat on a BSP ticket in 2012 assembly elections but was later expelled by the party for alleged anti-party activities.
Winning the seat is important for the ruling Congress in Uttarakhand as it will help the party get the elusive majority figure in the state assembly on its own.
It has 35 members of its own in the 70-member House at present and enjoys the support of the seven-member PDF of which Rakesh was a part. If the Congress wins Bhagwanpur seat, its own tally in the House will rise to 36.
Haridwar District Magistrate and Returning Officer H C Semwal said all preparations have been made for a free and fair polling.

The entire constituency has been divided into 16 sectors where 143 poling booths have been set up in a total of 86 polling stations. There are 1,12,069 voters in the constituency, of which 60.789 are male and 51,280 female.
Haridwar SSP Sweetie Agarwal said five companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), 183 SIs, 13 Inspectors, 1,900 constables and 200 homeguards have been deployed in the constituency to ensure peaceful polling.