The ECI also ordered the restoration of the road-roller symbol to the contestant: K Shiva Kumar of the Yuga Thulasi Party.
Published Oct 20, 2022 | 4:00 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 20, 2022 | 8:11 PM
The ECI observed that the RO had exceeded his powers in cancelling the road-roller symbol allotted to Shiva Kumar. (Creative Commons)
Munugode by-election Returning Officer (RO) K Jagannadha Rao has been shunted out for changing the road-roller symbol allotted to a contestant through a draw of lots without clearance from the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The ECI appointed Miryalaguda Revenue Divisional Officer B Rohit Singh as the new RO in his place.
The commission swung into action and ordered the transfer of Jagannadha Rao and the restoration of the road-roller symbol to the contestant K Shiva Kumar of Yuga Thulasi Party after he lodged a complaint with it that his symbol was changed to baby-walker without consulting him.
The ECI, which observed that the RO had exceeded his powers in cancelling the road-roller symbol allotted to Shiva Kumar, rushed a senior official to Hyderabad to inquire into the complaint.
After the commission shot off a letter to the CEO Telangana on Wednesday, the officials modified Form 7 again and reallotted the road-roller symbol to Shiva Kumar, while simultaneously publishing it in the Gazette Notification.
The ECI, in its letter, said that it found the RO had changed the road-roller symbol without the knowledge of even the election observer assigned to the constituency, while pointing out that he also did not follow the guidelines in the allotment of symbols to the contestants.
The letter, signed by Under Secretary Sanjay Kumar, said that the commission had taken serious note of the lapse of the RO, and that he should explain the circumstances under which he had to change the symbol.
The ECI said that the RO had used powers under Rule 10 (5) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, that he did not possess. It said he also did not follow the commission’s directions in the matter.
According to sources, the RO changed the road-roller symbol after a representation from the TRS that it resembled its election symbol: the car.
The ECI took objection to the action of the RO as, once a symbol is allotted to a candidate, it cannot be changed, unless directed by the commission itself.
For quite some time now, the TRS has been making representations for the removal of eight symbols — including the road-roller — from the list of free symbols as look similar to the car symbol.
On the last day of nominations, TRS workers staged a dharna at the office of the RO even as the party filed a petition in the Telangana High Court for a favourable decision.
But the high court dismissed the TRS’ petition on the grounds that it could not intervene once an election was notified by the ECI.
On 17 October, the Election Commission dismissed the TRS’ petition as one that had no merit. The high court, in its order, also referred to the ECI’s dismissal of its petition.
Cut to the quick by the ECI’s decision, TRS working president and Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao said on Thursday that it was yet another piece of evidence that the BJP would go to any length to misuse and influence statutory institutions that are meant to protect democracy.
He said that the decision to replace the RO showed how much influence the BJP wielded on the Election Commission.
He added that it was a mockery of democracy that the ECI, which removed the road-roller symbol from the list of free symbols on the request of the TRS in 2011, should reinclude it now. This action of the ECI was against the spirit of democracy, he said.
The TRS leader also said that the BJP was trying to split TRS voters by ensuring that symbols identical to the car were allotted to other contestants in the fray, which is against the principle of free and fair polls.
The people should understand how the BJP was misusing institutions created by the Constitution for its selfish objectives, he said.
“I condemn the decision to shift the RO, who was working sincerely. After realising that it was going to taste bitter defeat in Munugode, the BJP used the ECI to hurt the interests of the TRS,” he said.
మునుగోడు రిటర్నింగ్ ఆఫీసర్ బదిలీ వ్యవహారంలో కేంద్ర ఎలక్షన్ కమిషన్ వ్యవహరించిన తీరు ఆక్షేపనీయమన్న టీఆర్ఎస్ వర్కింగ్ ప్రెసిండెట్ @KTRTRS.
భారతీయ జనతా పార్టీ రాజ్యంగ వ్యవస్థలను ఏ విధంగా దుర్వినియోగం చేస్తుందో తెలిపేందుకు ఇది ఒక మరో తార్కాణమన్నారు
1/n
– File Photo pic.twitter.com/4O8UbUdjje
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) October 20, 2022
