BJP smells rat in ferrying Huzurabad bypoll material

Hyderabad: The State BJP leaders staged a protest on Sunday at Gandhi statue in Secunderabad against an alleged irregularities that took place in the transportation of election material of Huzurabad by-poll.

The protest was organised in response to a call given by the State party chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar. A BJP delegation, comprising BJLP leader Raja Singh, national vice-president D K Aruna, former MLC N Ramachander Rao, met Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel and demanded a CBI enquiry.

The delegation in a representation to the CEO said that RTC buses were used to transport the control units and VVPATS and other used and unused election material to the strong room at SR College, Karimnagar. In violation of norms, in the early hours of Sunday a car driver was found walking with a VVPAT and keeping it in a car at the college gate, following the instructions of an official. This was brought to the notice of the returning officer and the District Electoral Officer by some Congress and BJP leaders. But, instead of taking action, "he is supporting the erring official," they complained.

Besides, it was also found that the buses carrying the election material were stopped on the outskirts of Jammikunta, near a hotel belonging to a TRS leader, and at Bajaj showroom between 9 and 11 pm on Saturday night. The police on duty claimed that the buses were stopped as tyres of a bus got punctured. But local people informed that some control units in the buses were replaced and kept in the hotel. The IAS and IPS and other officials have come under the influence to violate norms acted as if they were agents of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the TRS party, the delegation alleged.

The BJP leaders demanded a CBI enquiry against the IAS and IPS officials and stringent action against other erring officials. They urged the EC to direct the counting officers and supervisors to follow rules strictly by verifying every EVM control unit are sealed properly cross-checking the signatures of the polling agents, the presiding officer.

Earlier, the BJP chief questioned how it was decided that a VVPAT was not working without giving information to the candidates and polling agents? How could a VVPAT be transported in a car, he asked. Bandi Sanjay demanded the EC to conduct a thorough enquiry into the incident.