LUCKNOW: Taking cognisance of the complaints of large-scale violence, rigging and booth capturing in Saturday's first round of polling in the local bodies elections in Uttar Pradesh, the State Election Commission on Sunday ordered repoll on 69 polling booths of 13 Nagar Palika Parishads in 11 districts.

With this the Commission also issued a circular to all the poll observers and District Magistrates for ordering repoll on the polling booths which had recorded more than 85 per cent of voting. The order was issued in the evening and the final picture would be known on Monday.

In a related development, the Minister of State for Institutional Finance, Sanjay Garg, resigned citing administrative failure to check poll irregularities in Saharanpur on Saturday, and the excesses committed by the police on minorities. Mr Garg, who is an MLA from Saharanpur, sent in his resignation to the Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, earlier in the day.

The Additional Election Commissioner, Vinay Priya Dubey, said that the directives to the observers and the District Magistrates had been issued on the basis of complaints of bogus voting and silent booth capturing received by the Commission. Mr Dubey said the officials have been authorised to make a dossier of polling booths which recorded more than 85 per cent of polling before ordering repoll.

In a day of hectic developments, the Gonda District Magistrate, O.N. Misra, recommended repoll in all the 83 polling booths of Gonda Nagar Palika.

In a letter faxed to the Commission, Mr Misra has expressed his apprehension that a free and fair election would not have been held following reports of bomb blasts, clashes, police lathicharge and booth capturing on several booths of the nagar panchayat.

Mr Dubey said the Commission had instructed the Gonda election observer, Amit Mohan Prasad, to conduct an investigation into the charges levelled by the DM and send his report by Sunday night.

With the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party alleging large-scale booth capturing and rigging by Samajwadi Party leaders and workers, the SEC headquarters on Station Road here also witnessed a protest by aggrieved political workers.

Supporters of an independent candidate who contested the Hardoi Nagar Palika Parishad staged a dharna demanding cancellation of the Hardoi election.

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