M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, May 25: Palamu administration learns a lesson in every panchayat election the harder way. But the one that it learned in the third phase polling, held on Tuesday, was hair raising and nightmarish for everyone from DC Shashi Ranjan to SP Chandan Kumar Sinha and their teams.
A presiding officer under the Tarhassi block showing a tearing hurry loaded the polled ballot boxes in his luxury car without appearing at the cluster for back to strong room journey.
He tried to push off with the polled ballot boxes in his car when a huge crowd mobbed him and his car shouting slogans replete to rig the poll to upset the voting result.
DC Palamu Shashi Ranjan and SP Chandan Kumar Sinha both told lagatar24.com today that throughout the four-phase panchayat election, presiding officers and their teams were repeatedly told to walk cross-country or travel only in vehicles drafted or engaged by the administration, and that this included getting to the cluster from the dispatch centre, moving out of the cluster to booths, and returning to cluster with polled ballot boxes, and so on.
DC Shashi Ranjan said, “The order was crystal clear. Reach cluster in government drafted or engaged vehicle with empty ballot boxes, ballot papers and other things. Similarly, leave cluster after the poll is over and ballot boxes sealed, again from the cluster and in the government drafted or engaged vehicle for the strong room to deposit polled ballot boxes.”
SP Chandan Kumar Sinha said it was clear that no presiding officer nor any of his 3-member polling party will be at the liberty to use their own vehicle for any side of the journey during the poll duty.
According to the SP, after the presiding officer’s mistake, the situation was volatile. Anything ugly and tragic could have happened to the presiding officer, his car and the three polled ballot boxes placed inside.
“There was no ill motive or intent on the part of the presiding officer but at the same time he had blatantly broken and breached the cardinal rule,” the SP said.
“We had to rush a heavy reinforcement of cops and officials to handle the situation and for full two hours it looked all hell had broken under the Tarhassi block,” the SP added.
DC Shashi Ranjan said, “We would take this presiding officer to the task. He is prima facie guilty of three counts.”
First, he disobeyed and flouted the express directive of the district administration regarding the panchayat elections.
Second, this presiding officer breached the standard operating procedure when he sat in his car with polled ballot boxes instead of reaching the cluster with the polled ballot boxes for his onward journey by government drafted or engaged vehicle to reach the strong room in Daltonganj for depositing the polled ballot boxes.
And third, he did not apply his mind that such an act of him putting polled ballot boxes in his car would tear apart public faith in the administration’s neutrality and devastate public tranquillity.
DC Shashi Ranjan said the presiding officer would have to face the music by all means. “Our 4th phase is round the corner and hence we need to tell our polling teams not to indulge in any misadventure to put one and all in an unwarranted quandary.”
The DC and SP said today they would be asking the polling officials for the fourth and final phase of the panchayat elections to refrain from any misdoings as it will land them in a deep mess in their service. Voting for the 4th phase is to be held on May 27.
