Council polls: EC orders repolling

Kailash should have been taken inside the booth on a stretcher

The EC has ordered re-polling in three booths, including Bangalore Urban Zilla Panchayat (Krishi Bhavan), the booth where Kailash cast his vote. Bedridden Kailash was brought to the booth in an ambulance. BJP MLA Satish Reddy and a few BJP workers helped him cast his vote by carrying the ballot paper to the ambulance.

The EC has taken note of this and ordered for repolling. Joint Chief Electoral Officer B V Kulkarni said, carrying the ballot paper out of the booth was in violation of the election rules. “If Kailash was taken inside the booth on a stretcher that would have not been a problem”, he said. Similarly, polling booth in Allolli gram panchayat in Chittapur taluk in Gulbarga district and a polling station (PS -2 ) in Chikmagalur will also go for re-poll.
The returning officer of Gulbarga recommended re-poll in Allolli, as there was complaint that a person, who accompanied a woman into the booth in the guise of helping her cast her vote, did not vote as per the wish of the voter.

In polling station-2 in Chikmagalur, there were instances of violating the secrecy of ballot. The repolling will be held between 8 am and 4 pm.

Former union minister M V Rajashekharan could not vote, on Friday, as his name was not included in the voters’ list of Bangalore urban constituency. When this was brought to the notice of Kulkarni, he said that Rajya Sabha members, MLCs nominated and those elected from the Legislative Assembly enjoyed the liberty to vote anywhere in the State.

However, they had to inform the deputy commissioners of districts concerned, where they wished to vote well in advance. Rajashekharan had not informed where he would vote, in advance, he added.