Governor suspends Asst Returning Officer

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora

Kaithal, April 6

The Governor has suspended Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) Braham Parkash in connection with the rejection of AAP applications for permission to hold a public meeting.

The ARO had clarified that the password of his login ID for the portal was with staff members, and he had suspended five employees. During his suspension, his headquarters will be the office of the Chief Secretary.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested two persons in this regard. However, their names have not been disclosed.

The police have registered an FIR in the case. Two applications of an AAP leader were rejected with derogatory remarks and abusive language by the Election Commission. “We have registered a case and Cyber Police Station has been assigned the inquiry,” said SP Upasana.

The District Informatics Officer (DIO), Kaithal, has been assigned the duty to inquire about it.

AAP leader Subham Rana had applied for permission in two different applications regarding the holding of a public meeting by the AAP candidate from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat, Sushil Gupta, and using loudspeakers, but both were rejected.

“The Election Commission of India has started applying online for the first time through the ENCORE portal. Officials and staff members were trained to operate it. We received two applications from the AAP leader, but upon noticing that these were rejected with derogatory remarks and abusive language, I brought the issue to the notice of the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, and the District Election Officer, Kaithal. I have filed a complaint with the SP for a detailed inquiry. Since the issue is technical, the DIO has been assigned the inquiry,” said Braham Parkash, Assistant Returning Officer, Kaithal.

“Employees involved in the process of issuing permission have been suspended. The remarks were unconstitutional and unacceptable, he maintained, adding that, “We have issued permission,” he added.

DC-cum-District Election Officer Prashant Panwar also shared the incident on ‘X’ and said, “An incident was reported on April 4, 2024, wherein the user ID of Assistant Returning Officer (ARO), Kaithal, Parliamentary Constituency, Kurukshetra, was misused by an unknown person to access the ENCORE portal and make derogatory posts therein. Action, including the suspension of five persons suspected to be involved in this incident and registration of an FIR at Cyber Police Station, Kaithal, has been taken. The inquiry is underway to ascertain further details.”

Meanwhile, Sushil Gupta alleged that the Election Commission was working at the behest of the BJP government. “The AAP had applied for permission for two programmes to be held on April 7, and these were rejected with ‘cuss words’. The language used by the Election Commission is shameful. I appeal to the Election Commission of India to take strict action,” he said.

‘How can we expect EC to be fair?’

AAP senior leader Anurag Dhanda has also demanded action against senior officials and said elections should be fair and transparent. “The rejection of AAP applications was shameful. If the intention of the Election Commission is doubtful, how can we expect it to be fair? We demand action against senior officials so that a strong message could be conveyed,” he added.

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