Amitabh Shukla /
What KJ Rao was to
Already politicians are crying hoarse that the elections are bereft of colour and everything they do is in the scanner of the election officials. Sidhu did not even spare her colleague in the IAS, one batch junior to her, Darbara Singh Guru, who resigned and is now the Akali candidate from Bhadaur. When his supporters distributed peanuts and sweets on the occasion of Lohri, it was noticed immediately and explanation sought.
Guru was not the lone high-profile candidate under the EC scanner. Former state Director General of Police, PS Gill too was not spared. When he was found using a red-beacon vehicle, he was promptly reminded about it and it was removed. Wherever Gill goes, while campaigning in Moga, the seat from where he is contesting the polls on a SAD ticket, a person with a small video camera shadows him, keeping a watch on his every activity. This is promptly reported to the Deputy Commissioner, who in turn, forwards it to the state headquarters where Sidhu is the boss.
Then there is Mohammed Mustafa, Additional Director General of Police. His wife Razia Sultana is contesting from Malerkotla for the third time in a row on a Congress ticket. Mustafa took leave from the government to campaign for his wife. When the EC got a wind of it, the leave of Mustafa was promptly cancelled and he was asked to report to work immediately.
Leave apart the politicians, even the official vehicles of all police officers are being searched by the teams of EC apprehending that they could be used for ferrying cash and even narcotics. A senior police official in the Vigilance Department was transferred out of the state immediately to Uttarakhand as poll observer when some violation was noticed. District police chiefs, who move around with a posse of security personnel, face the ignominy of being stopped by the EC teams and vehicles searched for cash.
The writ of the EC runs large throughout the state so much so that the candidates do not offer tea to their constituents, do not arrange for chair nor do they organize lavish spread of food as was the norm in previous elections. They make their speeches without sitting on a dais and prefer door to door campaigning as cost involved is much less as compared to a formal meeting where everything from chairs to mikes and pandals have to be hired and the expenditure clubbed with those of the candidate.
Sidhu’s mother Pritam Kaur Sidhu expired when the model code of conduct was in force in the state. Keeping her emotions in check, the Chief Electoral Officer was back to work within a couple of days, monitoring violations and briefing the media persons about what had happened in Punjab in the last 24 hours. How much cash has been seized, from where and which of the candidates have violated model code of conduct and where have the notices been issued.
The moment model code of conduct came into force, Sidhu took control and effected a series of transfers of SSPs, DCs and other officials. It continued throughout.
Ruling Akali Dal, which was on a transfer posting spree in the last 3-4 months preceding the poll announcement, was quick to react. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal questioned the steps taken and said EC in the state was overstepping its constitutional mandate and sought CEC Y S Qureshi’s intervention. Qureshi was quick to respond, defending what Sidhu was doing and asking Badal to come with specific complaint, if he had any.
Sidhu, herself keeps to the nitty-gritty of the polls and gives details of action which has been taken saying she was only doing her duty.
While the ruling Akali Dal leaders allege of bias by the EC and loathe the way elections have been conducted so far and the way the candidates of the party have been “targeted”, Punjab Congress leaders are happy.
“Let them (EC officials) do their duty,” says a senior Congress leader, elated that only a few of the party candidates have come in the EC radar while the numbers in the Akali Dal and BJP is on the higher side. (17.1.2012)
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