E-Paper
Punjab Congress moves HC for videography of rural body poll counting
Court to hear Raja Warring’s petition tomorrow ahead of zila parishad and block samiti election counting on Wednesday.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking videography of the December 17 counting for the zila parishad and block samiti elections held on December 14.
The court will hear the public interest litigation on Tuesday.
Through his counsel Nikhil Ghai, Warring submitted that the petition was filed “in the interest of safeguarding the purity, transparency, and credibility of the electoral process in elections to zila parishads in Punjab”.
Warring said that the lack of mandatory videography makes the process vulnerable to manipulation and erodes public confidence, particularly following allegations of malpractice by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during the nomination filing and polling phases.
The court had earlier directed the state election commission (SEC) to ensure the non-partisan conduct of police personnel and to inquire into allegations of misconduct by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress. They claimed their candidates and workers were intimidated and attacked to prevent them from participating in the poll process.
The SAD and the Congress had earlier alleged that their candidates were prevented from filing nomination papers.
An alleged audio clip featuring Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Varun Sharma discussing how to help ruling party MLAs surfaced on December 4, leading to a controversy. The high court criticised the SEC over its handling of this matter and directed a fair inquiry. The SSP was told to proceed on leave till the polls were held, pending inquiry.
The elections saw a low voter turnout of 48%, down from 58.1% in 2018.
