Dumka official to be under scanner: CEC

A senior official in Dumka, whose removal was demanded by a political party, will be under watch during the Assembly polls in Jharkhand, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said here today.
"The complaint was made during Lok Sabha elections. Now, one official has gone from there while another official is under watch," the CEC said, when asked to comment on a political party's demand for removal of the two officials.
BJP's state unit vice-president Rakesh Prasad had yesterday told reporters that he had placed the demand for their removal accusing them of partiality during the LS polls.
The demand was raised during the meeting between political leaders and the team headed by the CEC yesterday.

Not identifying any political party, the CEC also said the Commission rejected another demand to ban the state government's 'Dhoti-Saree distribution scheme' as it could influence the voting.
"The Commission will not interfere in it as the Rs 203 crore scheme was budgeted and launched on August 15, before the elections were announced. The scheme is for ration card holders and no extra person has been included in it," Sampath said.
The EC also rejected the demand by political parties for raising the Rs 50,000 cap on cash-in-hand during elections and said carrying more than that amount with evidence of income would not attract violation.

The Commission, however, agreed to another demand of political parties allowing elderly and infirm people to jump queues during voting, Sampath added.