Controversy stalks Vadra in poll–bound UP
BJP seeks for clarification on transfer of DEO who stopped his bike rally
It has been just two days since Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, landed on the political landscape of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the party, but controversies seem unending.
Earlier on Monday, Robert Vadra’s statement, “I would definitely contest elections if the people desired so,” made while campaigning in Amethi grabbed headlines and “breaking news” section on TV channels.
His statement, however, was downplayed by his wife Priyanka Gandhi, who blamed media for the issue.
“Look, you (media) must have asked him a twisted question and then misinterpreted it. Robertji is very happy doing his business and in my opinion he must have said that he is happy in his business,” she said when asked to comment on the issue.
Other leaders in the 125–year–old party preferred to maintain silence on the issue keeping its sensitivity within the party in mind.
“Not only me, tell me who will make any comments on this issue?” asked a senior leader of the party, when Deccan Herald asked him to respond to Vadra’s statement.
Vadra’s statement on joining politics was followed by another controversy generated in the wake of the transfer of the District Election Officer (DEO) who stopped his bike rally in Amethi due to the issue of a violation of model code of conduct.
Opposition parties accused the Election Commission of acting in a partisan manner.
While BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Husain termed the transfer of 2005 batch IAS officer Pawan Sen to Goa, amid elections in UP, a “motivated move”, the Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan raised doubts on poll panel’s intentions to hold free and fair elections.
The controversy forced poll body to come out with a clarification on Tuesday. “The commission has come across some unwarranted references in the media regarding its decision to re–deploy an officer Pawan Kumar Sen, presently on election duty in CSM Nagar as a DEO in the state of Goa,” said an Election Commission statement released in national capital.
According to the commission, the decision to transfer Sen was “baselessly linked to a certain enforcement action taken by the particular officer in his capacity as an election observer in an incident involving Vadra in some Assembly constituency in CSM Nagar.”
The poll panel clarified that the “the decision to post Shri Sain as the District Election Officer in South Goa was in process for a week, based on the need to replace the present DEO in that district”.
In an attempt to avoid “any different interpretation” of the transfer of the officer, the Commission “decided to defer the officer’s joining as DEO in South Goa till the polling in the concerned constituencies are over”.
Polling in various Assembly segments in Amethi will be held on February 15.
