Even as Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav left for his native village of Saifai for Diwali, the EC on Thursday put a dampener on his celebrations by countermanding the bypolls to the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which was held on October 13.Repolling was held in 27 polling booths on October 15, but before counting of votes could begin, EC suspended it and ordered an inquiry into the complaints of Opposition parties that the poll was rigged. Fresh bypolls would now be held on December 20, with no change in the list of candidates.The Mainpuri seat was vacated by Mulayam when he became CM. His nephew, Dharmendra Yadav, was nominated as the SP candidate there. EC spokesman A.N. Jha said the bypoll was countermanded in view of largescale rigging and intimidation of voters. It took two sets of enquires for the EC to verify the charges.
