Third umpire in Chapra

The Election Commission today announced a two-member team to inquire into allegations of booth-capturing and violence in Chapra constituency...

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The Election Commission today announced a two-member team to inquire into allegations of booth-capturing and violence in Chapra constituency. Rival candidates, Civil Aviation Minister and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy and RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav, had both lodged complaints with the EC.

Senior EC officials K.J. Rao and Ananth Kumar will conduct the inquiry into the alleged violence and rigging, by RJD activists on one hand and Rudy and his bodyguards on the other, on April 26. The team will leave for Chapra tomorrow and is expected to submit the report by May 5, EC sources said.

The BJP has already submitted three memorandums and video tapes to the Commission on the alleged poll-related violence by RJD activists, but the Chapra affair became complicated today after local police registered a FIR against Rudy and his bodyguards for booth-capturing, violence, theft and intimidation of voters.

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The EC which was already under pressure from the BJP for countermanding the Chapra election, found itself in the midst of the post-polling slugfest between the BJP and the RJD. ‘‘The team will look into all complaints received from various quarters,’’ EC sources said.

The Commission, which has received a preliminary report from the state electoral officers, was earlier expected to issue an order for repolling today. Coming out of Nirvachan Sadan today, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi refused to attach any seriousness to the FIR lodged against Rudy. It was just aimed at countering our complaint to the EC, he said.

Leading the third delegation to the EC office in three days, the BJP along with some NDA members reiterated their demand for countermanding polls here, citing largescale violence.

The NDA is also demanding polls in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, be countermanded. They also urged the EC to provide additional security forces in Madhepura, where polling will take place on May 5. Laloo Yadav is contesting against JD (U) leader and Union Minister Sharad Yadav.