EC gives marching orders to top official

Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan said in New Delhi that the state government had been asked to send a panel of three names for his replacement by 3 pm on Wednesday.

Fateh Bahadur was among the six officers who the Samajwadi Party wanted removed for their alleged proximity to the Mayawati government.

UP’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bisnoi said as per the EC’s direction,the principal secretary (home) will not discharge any other responsibility during the polls. Fateh Bahadur is also principal secretary (appointments).

Asked about the reason behind Fateh Bahdur’s removal,Bisnoi said the EC order did not cite the reason.

A source,however,said delegations of the Opposition parties,including the SP and the BJP,had met Chawala and complained that Fateh Bahadur was working in the interest of the ruling BSP. The source added that the parties accused the official of dereliction of duty.

Since Fateh Bahadur is also principal secretary (appointments),the CEO clarified that “the order is only about his transfer from the home department”. The principal secretary (home) also controls jail affairs.

The 1981-bacth IAS officer is considered to be close to the powers-that-be in the state. In the past,he has served as principal secretary to the chief minister. “I have never seen an IAS officer who was principal secretary (home) and principal secretary (appointments) simultaneously. This shows the clout that Fateh Bahdur enjoys under the Mayawati government,” said a senior IAS officer.

On March 4,when CEC N Gopalaswami and Election Commissioners Navin Chawala and SY Quraishi visited Lucknow,the SP had named Fateh Bahadur among six officers whom it wanted removed in the interest of free and fair polls in the state.

The other officers included Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh,Chief Secretary A K Gupta,Principal Secretary (Information) V S Pandey,DGP Vikram Singh and the ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal.

The EC’s decision to remove Fateh Bahadur comes two days after Election Commissioner Navin Chawala’s meeting with the observers in Varanasi on April 5. Forty-eight observers are already on the job in the eastern UP’s 16 constituencies that will go to polls on April 16.

EC to map ‘vulnerable’ Lok Sabha Seats
The EC has decided to conduct a “vulnerability mapping” exercise of all 543 Lok Sabha constituencies in the country to identify troubled spots and deploy Central forces accordingly. A similar exercise was undertaken during the last Assembly elections in UP.

The exercise is qualitatively different from identifying the “sensitive booths”. Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan said in New Delhi that the exercise would be carried out in three phases — “identifying villages and hamlets vulnerable to intimidation; identifying trouble-makers within five days of issue of poll notification and taking firm action against them”.

Central paramilitary forces will then be accordingly deployed so that people vote fearlessly.