Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Acting on the complaints of the Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav that some police officials were trying to intimidate voters from casting votes in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly byelections for nine seats, at least five police personnel were suspended for violating election guidelines and the Election Commission asking the chief electoral officer to ensure free and fair elections.
Mr Yadav send with video evidence that in some constituencies the police officers on duty to maintain law and order situation were indulging in checking voters’ identity cards and aadhar cards in violation of the election guidelines as only the election officers are authorised to check voters’ identity cards on the polling days and not the police.
Acting on complaints, the Election Commission on Wednesday ordered suspension of police personnel violating its guidelines on checking of voters and stopping them from casting votes, officials said. Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa said five cops have been suspended. “Voter IDs must be checked by poll staff inside the booth. Cops outside will not check IDs or stop anyone. If such complaints come, we will take action,” he said.
The poll officer was responding to Mr Yadav’s allegation that police were checking voter cards of people and stopping them from casting their vote.
Mr Yadav urged the Supreme Court and the EC to take immediate cognisance of alleged voter suppression based on video evidence, take punitive action and ensure fair elections. The party requested the EC earlier to issue instructions that on polling day, police officers are not allowed to check the ID of voters, only polling officers are permitted to do so.
In a post on X, Mar Yadav said, “All police officers who are checking voter cards and Aadhaar IDs should be immediately suspended on the basis of video evidence. Police have no right to check Aadhaar ID cards or identity cards,” Mr Yadav said.
He shared a video of party candidate Sumbul Rana from Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar district, accusing police personnel of trying to deter people from voting. “We are going from village to village, people are being harassed and are not being allowed to vote. Police officers are troubling people, telling them that they cannot vote. They are asking for one ID, and then asking for another ID. They are checking all IDs, but still, people are not being allowed to cast their votes,” she told reporters.
Ms Rana claimed that such complaints were coming from Nayagaon, Nagla Buzuk, Sambalheda, and other areas in the constituency. “We are raising complaints but officers are not checking it,” she alleged.
Countering the opposition party’s claims, BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla said the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav are scared of losing in the ongoing bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. “The Samajwadi Party has lost trust in the voters. That is why they have gathered external disruptive elements in the bypoll areas. According to several media reports, the faces of women wearing burqas are not matching with their identity cards,” Mr Shukla claimed.
“The BJP appeals to the EC and the administration to ensure that voting is not allowed without matching the identity cards and that the EC’s instructions are strictly followed,” he added. On social media platform X, SP’s media cell also highlighted alleged poll code violations at some locations, including the Kundarki seat in Moradabad. It said the party’s agents were not being allowed near the polling stations.
Moradabad DM Anuj Singh said there were reports from a party alleging “bogus voting” in Bikanpur and claims that the administration has not allowed their agents. “We got these claims verified, I myself spoke to the polling officer in Bikanpur and found that voting is underway smoothly and no voter is facing any problem. There is adequate security presence also,” Mr Singh added.
In Kanpur, SP candidate Naseem Solanki alleged her party voters were complaining of foul play by the administration, and alleging “biased behaviour” by the administration.
Taking cognisance of the complaints on social media by the Samajwadi Party that some communities were prevented from voting during the bypolls, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar gave strict instructions to chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh and all district election officers and returning officers to ensure fair and smooth voting process. They were told to take immediate cognisance of all complaints and take prompt action and inform the complainant through social media also by tagging them.
No eligible voter should be prevented from voting and any kind of biased attitude will not be tolerated, they were warned. If anyone was found guilty after receiving a complaint, strict action should be taken, the poll machinery was told, the officials said.
Mr Yadav has also shared a video in which a police officer can be seen charging at women with a revolver pointed at them. While Mr Yadav has alleged that voters were threatened by the policeman in Muzaffarnagar’s Kakrouli, the district magistrate has claimed that stones were pelted at the police team who had gone to break up a clash between two groups and that no one was intimidated by the cops.
Mr Yadav identified the cop as the officer in-charge of the Kakrouli police station in Muzaffarnagar district’s Meerapur Assembly segment. “The SHO of Kakrouli police station in Meerapur must be suspended immediately because he is threatening voters with a revolver and stopping them from voting,” he wrote in a post on X.
In the video he shared, a woman is heard telling the cop, “You don’t have the order to fire.” The cop, revolver in hand, walks towards her shouting, “we have the orders”. The woman stands her ground and says, “This is not right.” The cop has been identified as Station House Officer Rajiv Sharma.
Replying to the post, Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate (DM) Umesh Mishra denied the allegations and said the police team had gone to the area near Kakrouli village on receiving information that a fight had broken out between two groups. Mr Sharma said efforts were made to get the groups to disperse but stones were thrown at the police team, after which “mild force” was used.
“Police station in-charge Kakrouli Rajiv Sharma, who was present at the spot, took action to normalise the law and order situation with anti-riot equipment. No one was threatened in this action. Legal action will be taken by registering a case under relevant sections for throwing stones at the police team,” he said in the statement in Hindi. Some others also accused Mr Yadav of sharing the video partly and posted what they claimed to be the full video in which a man can be seen attempting to throw stones at the cops before the policeman pulls out his gun.
The Samajwadi Party has accused the police of “misbehaving” with voters in Meerapur. “They are being stopped from casting their votes, voting is getting affected. Police is misbehaving with voters and using lathis on women at booth number 318 of Meerapur assembly constituency in Muzaffarnagar. Election Commission should take cognisance and ensure fair voting,” the party said on X.
The bypolls to nine Assembly seats has sparked heated exchanges between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Samajwadi Party. While Mr Yadav has alleged in multiple posts that cops are stopping and intimidating voters, state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary has accused the Opposition party of deploying goons and mafia on the ground out of frustration. The BJP also alleged that the faces of some burqa-clad women voters did not match their IDs.
Earlier in the day, BJP’s Akhilesh Kumar Awasthi in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh asked to ensure proper checking of burqa-clad women and claimed that the women have been allowed to vote without their identity being checked.
