Minor inside polling booth: Maharashtra SEC orders action against election official, cop
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra State Election Commission has ordered the suspension of a polling officer and a police constable in Solapur for allowing a minor boy to enter a polling booth with his father, a candidate in the Zilla Parishad election.
A video went viral on social media last week, which showed a 14-year-old boy, accompanied by his father, allegedly casting a vote at the Yashwant Nagar polling station in Akluj during the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on February 7.
In the video, NCP (SP) candidate Arjun Sinh Mohite Patil's son is seen standing next to him inside a polling booth, pressing the EVM button.
The SEC, in a letter to the Solapur collector on February 10, stated that permitting a child inside the polling compartment was a violation of election rules.
Based on a preliminary report, the poll body found negligence in election duty by polling officer Anna Savata Budhe and police constable Gajanan Sitaram Rajut, who were deployed at the booth.
The SEC has ordered the immediate suspension of both officials and departmental disciplinary proceedings against them.
It has also directed the district administration to submit a detailed compliance report at the earliest.
The commission further stated that an FIR has been registered in connection with the incident, naming Mohite-Patil, and directed the collector to send a factual report on the status of the case and subsequent action.
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Rahul Gandhi's policy is to lie loudly, repeat it, people have identified it: HM Shah
Karaikal (Puducherry) (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that in FTA and trade deals, the interests of farmers and fishermen have been fully secured and slammed top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for misleading them with 'lies'.
Addressing a well-attended BJP rally here, Shah alleged that Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, "has started a new tradition of telling lies daily."
"Its Rahul Gandhi's policy to lie, lie loudly, repeat it. But people have identified your lie manufacturing factory," he said.
The provisions in FTA and the trade deal, apparently the Indo-US one, should be studied carefully and Prime Minister Narendra Modi "has ensured 100 per cent protection" for Indian farmers and fishermen, Shah said.
He charged that farmers' interests were "sold off" during the UPA regime headed by the late Manmohan Singh.
The BJP veteran also expressed confidence that in 2029, under PM Modi, BJP-led NDA will assume power again at the Centre.
