Complaints on fake voters to be probed, says CEO

officer Anand Kumar who took charge on Friday as the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Rajasthan said his priority was conducting free and fair polls, emphasising that complaints regarding fake voters would be probed. Kumar was appointed CEO by the Election Commission of India, replacing Ashwini Bhagat barely months ahead of the assembly polls in Rajasthan.

Bhagat was sent on Awaiting Posting Orders. Bhagat’s removal comes amid complaints by the Congress to the ECI regarding 40 lakh fake voters in the electoral rolls in the state.

Kumar, a 1994 batch IAS officer, was posted as principal secretary, medical education. Additional chief secretary in the health department Veenu Gupta has been given additional charge of the department. Kumar hails from Rewari district in Haryana and has held important posts in the government.

“We will make all poll preparations to ensure smooth elections. We will talk to all political parties and address their concerns,” Kumar said after taking over charge as CEO. “I have been given an important responsibility and I will fulfill it properly.”

Asked about the issue of fake voters, Kumar said he will get it inquired into.

Bhagat, a 1995 batch IAS officer, was appointed as CEO in November 2016. Sources in the department said there were complaints about his style of functioning. A team of the central election commission had visited Jaipur on August 10 to review poll preparations but was not satisfied with the progress which had been reported to the higher-ups.

The Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had submitted a memorandum to the ECI seeking its intervention in removal of fake voters from electoral rolls.

The Congress had earlier petitioned the ECI over existence of a large number of fake voters in the electoral rolls of Madhya Pradesh, which will also have assembly elections at the end of 2018.

The Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh units of the Congress had also moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the ECI to ensure that duplicate voters were removed from the electoral rolls. In July, the ECI had removed the Madhya Pradesh chief electoral officer.

JAIPUR:IAS