DU’s Aditi Mahavidyalaya forms probe committee after two candidates allege vote-count gaps, EVM-handling lapses and outsider presence near a booth in its college elections.
An Aditi Mahavidyalaya probe committee has been set up to investigate allegations of irregularities in its college-level elections, The Times of India (TOI) reported. Two candidates have alleged discrepancies in vote counting and EVM handling. They also allege that non-students, including a BJP functionary, were near a polling booth on the day of voting.
The polls were held on 18 September, and all the candidates who won were backed by the ABVP. The ABVP had claimed its candidates secured all posts at Aditi Mahavidyalaya. On 21 September, Diya Chhabra, who contested for president, and Prachi Wadhwa, who contested for secretary, sent the college a representation alleging malpractice. The college informed them on 24 September that it had formed a probe committee.
The complaint rests on a result sheet submitted by Chhabra and Wadhwa. It shows 568 votes cast in all, 315 at booth 1 and 253 at booth 2. The tallies for individual posts fall short of that total: 563 for president (314 and 249), 539 for secretary (311 and 228), and 542 for joint secretary (311 and 231). The two have asked how many NOTA votes were cast and have sought the unedited CCTV footage of polling day.
They have made further allegations in their representation. They say an observer in booth 1 was not allowed to stay inside the polling area, and that EVMs were opened before voting without verification by the candidates. They also allege that a man who is not a student was allowed on the women’s college campus during the campaign and polling. They say he was seen near a booth on 18 September, between 11:30 am and 1 pm, with BJP MLA Ravinder Indraj Singh.
MLA Indraj Singh told TOI that he had gone to the campus as a public representative. He said the college falls in his constituency and that he had received complaints about some commotion there.
The two candidates have also approached the Delhi High Court. Their counsel, Shaurya Vikram, said it was troubling that a college was alleged to have manipulated vote counts and allowed external political functionaries inside. Calls and texts from TOI to the principal, Neelam Rathi, went unanswered.
Kaustubh Dwivedi
dwivedikaustubh4@gmail.com
Image Credits: NDTV
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