Polling booth scrapped in Moga, polling staff asked to report back

Kulwinder Sandhu

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Tribune News Service

Moga, February 14

For the first time in the electoral history of Punjab, a polling party was on Sunday asked to return with EVMs and other poll material at the eleventh hour after being told that there were no registered voters at the polling booth.

According to information, the polling party had gone to booth number 42 in ward number 16, where they were deployed to conduct the local body elections. The polling party was then asked to report back to the returning officer.

The district administration maintained that all votes of booth number 42 were shifted from ward number 16 to two others wards — 24 and 25 — as the number of votes in these wards were very less compared to other wards.

The total votes in Moga as per the voters list are 1,14,820, the list of which was prepared on the basis of the voters’ list updated in February 2020.

The total votes in ward number 23 are 849, ward number 24 has 909, ward number 25 has 975, ward number 35 has 1,009 while in ward number 16 there are 3,908 votes.

When Opposition parties cried foul alleging that the Congress had intentionally reconstituted the wards in an irrational manner with the sole motive to win the elections, the district administration carried out a delimitation work and corrected its “mistake”.

It was under this exercise that the votes of booth number 42 — shifted to ward number 16 — were then shifted in ward numbers 24 and 25, officials said. Accordingly, the booth of ward number 16 was scrapped by the administration but it was not updated, they said.

District Magistrate Sandeep Hans claimed that the administration shifted the votes to other wards as per the rules and guidelines of the government and the State Election Commission.

Meanwhile, alleged bogus voting was reported in ward number 1.