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Election Commission upsets Mayawati

LUCKNOW: In an unprecedented move, the Mayawati Government has objected strongly to the decision of the Election Commission of India to postpone counting of votes cast in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls from the local authority constituencies. The elections were held on Thursday and the counting was to take place this Saturday, January 9. A letter has been sent to the Commission seeking a review of its decision and the counting to be held as scheduled.

According to the revised schedule of counting announced by the Election Commission on Friday, the counting now will take place next week on January 13 as the Commission wanted to seek a clarification on the nominated members from the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court vide its interim order dated January 6.

Defending the government move, State Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said on Friday that a request has merely been made to the Commission for reviewing its decision on the ground that the poll schedule once announced should be followed. He denied that the State Government has no locus standi in this case and its move amounts to interference in the election process. He said the State Government ought to have been consulted before postponing the counting of votes. "Right from maintenance of law and order and making arrangements for the polls and counting, the State Government is very much involved in the election process," said the Cabinet Secretary at a hastily convened press conference here. He asserted that there was no ambiguity in the electoral rolls and the elections had passed off peacefully.

“There is no occasion for the counting to be postponed,” he added.

Opposition to the Commission’s decision has also come from the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party with its State unit president Swami Prasad Maurya accusing the Election Commission of working at the behest of the UPA Government at the Centre. In a statement, he charged that the Election Commission was working as a representative of the Centre. The BSP leader said it was the duty of the Election Commission to ensure a free and fair poll rather than place obstacles in the election process. By accusing the State Government of misusing official machinery in Thursday’s polls the SP, the Congress and the BJP were trying to exert pressure on the Commission, he said.

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