Ink row: Video footage of polling shown to losing candidate

Amid the 'ink' row surrounding the Rajya Sabha elections in Haryana, the video footage of the polling area was today shown by the Election Commission to the representatives of two candidates as well as those who had filed a complaint with the poll body.
The Election Commission officials had called the two winning candidates -- Union Minister Birender Singh and Independent candidate backed by BJP Subhash Chandra -- besides the losing candidate R K Anand, an Independent who was backed by opposition Congress and INLD.
However, Singh and Chandra were not present and had sent their representatives today.
After seeing the footage, the losing Independent candidate R K Anand, who was backed by opposition parties INLD and Congress, alleged that the manner in which a ruling BJP MLA has behaved during marking his vote, "raises suspicion".

Congress and Anand had moved EC, alleging that someone had changed the original pen provided by the election officials with another one for a while which resulted in some votes being declared as invalid.
"They (EC authorities) showed us the video footage. I have pointed out the role of BJP MLA Aseem Goel in the whole matter, which raises suspicion," Anand, a lawyer by profession, told reporters.

Charging Aseem Goel with replacing the pen, he said, "The votes cast later were declared invalid. And when Independent MLA Jai Prakash comes, the pen was again changed resulting all votes being polled in between as invalid."

As many as 14 votes of MLAs were declared invalid in the Saturday's polls.
Goel, who had faced similar charges from INLD few days back, again trashed the allegations. Likewise, Independent MLA Jai Prakash also rubbished allegations that he had used any unfair means during the poll.
Anand said it had taken barely few seconds for other MLAs to cast votes, but Aseem Goel stood in the polling area for too long.
"It took other MLAs barely 10-15 seconds to mark their vote, but Goel took 50-60 seconds despite being so young and having no problem in moving fast. All this raises suspicion," he said.

He also alleged that Goel bent down way too much before registering his vote which raises suspicion.
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About the next course of action, Anand said he was contemplating registering a FIR in the case, besides if need arises, he will move court as well.
"I have sought a CD of the video recording. We will go into each detail minutely," he said.
He said video recording is a "small piece of evidence" besides "other circumstantial evidence" which indicate that bungling has taken place.
Without naming anyone, the losing candidate alleged, "attempts have been made to derail the entire election".

"Rajya Sabha polls are such a big election and an ordinary sketch pen costing Rs 2-4, which is commonly available in the markets, was used. This decision of Election Commission was totally wrong," he said.
According to him, the Returning Officer of the Rajya Sabha polls has said he had shown the pen to the MLAs before the start of the polls with which they were supposed to cast their vote.
Asked why they did not raise objection that day itself, Anand replied, "the result was shocking for us. We could not imagine that bungling could take place. About this we came to know later on when we discussed the results."

Anand insisted that no Congress MLA who cast his/her vote had taken any pen with him/her inside the polling area.
State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, who also saw the footage and was present on Congress' behalf, said his party was thankful to the Election Commission for using "extraordinary" powers to conduct investigations in the case.
Tanwar charged the ruling BJP with hatching a conspiracy "to murder democracy" which had resulted in so many votes being declared invalid.
Haryana's Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar, who represented Birender Singh, said there is no such thing in video footage which raises suspicion.
"All the MLAs cast their vote under one minute. There is nothing of the sort which suggests anything out of place," Dhankar said.

He said if one has to raise fingers, then one can pick up any point and even raise doubt why all the 12-13 Congress MLAs whose votes were declared invalid walked in to cast vote one after the other forming a sequence.
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Goel, MLA from Ambala City, said Anand has been levelling false allegation against him of changing of pen.
"The truth is that Congress and INLD ditched him in the Rajya Sabha poll," he told reporters in Ambala today.
He said there was no any unfair means on his or on part of any of the BJP MLAs during the Rajya Sabha poll.

Regarding Anand's charge that he took comparatively long time to cast his vote, the BJP MLA said Rajya Sabha polls are an important event and he could not have cast his vote in a hurry.
"One MLA might take some more time while casting his vote in comparison to other. There was no binding of time period," he said.
Independent MLA Jai Prakash said "baseless allegations are being levelled to malign my image.."
A team of the Election Commission had two days back visited the assembly secretariat here for an inquiry into the matter.
The Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretary R K Nandal, who was the Returning Officer for the polls, had earlier said there was very "rare chance" of the pen provided for marking the votes being changed.