The Election Commission today directed poll authorities in Uttar Pradesh to immediately suspend a government official and initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for dereliction of duty after his son uploaded his photographs with EVMs on a social networking site.
Divisional audit officer Avdhesh Kumar Srivastava, who was appointed as sector magistrate in Varanasi ahead of Lok Sabha elections, found himself in trouble when his son Ankit uploaded his photos with EVMs on Facebook.
Srivastava was given three reserve electronic voting machines which were to be replaced in case of malfunctioning of any EVM in his area during polling.
He took the machines to his residence where his son took pictures with them and uploaded these on Facebook.
Some local AAP leaders flagged the issue with EC after photos went viral online. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pitted against AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi.
Based on the report of the Varanasi District Election Officer, the Commission today recommended that Srivastava, Sector Magistrate for Sector number 14 of 390-Varanasi Cant AC "should immediately be suspended from his post and disciplinary proceedings should also be initiated against him for dereliction of duty".
