Officials, employees denied voting during second phase, says Raman Singh

Chhattisgarh Assembly elections: Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said that officials and employees, who were exempted from poll duty upon their request, were deprived of voting

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Raman Singh on Monday said that the officials and employees, who were exempted from poll duty upon their request, were deprived of voting during the second phase of polling.

He said hundreds of officials and employees were unable to exercise their voting rights and that it is a serious violation of the electoral process. “It’s crucial to safeguard their democratic rights. I urge Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Reena Baba Saheb Kangale to give significant attention to this matter and promptly decide on their voting rights.” Singh said.

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In response to this issue, the CEO has assured an inquiry into the matter. The Election Commission had released two orders for employees assigned to election duty. The first order asked them to report for training programmes, while the second order was regarding the allocation of their duties. When these employees were called for training, the Election Commission issued postal ballots in their names.

Following the issuance of the first order, many of the employees requested to be excused from election duty due to health reasons. However, postal ballots were issued in their names, and when they reached their respective polling booths to cast their votes, they were denied voting rights.

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Chandrashekhar Tiwari, a representative of the employees’ organisation, filed a complaint with the district election officer in Raipur. The CEO said that she would ask for reports from all district collectors. "If anyone is found guilty, they will be punished according to prescribed rules," she added.