Bhopal, April 25 (Inditop) Madhya Pradesh’s chief electoral officer (CEO) J.S. Mathur Saturday denied disallowing workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties, waiting outside polling stations on election day, to set up tents to protect themselves from the blazing sun.
Mathur told IANS that neither had anyone contacted him or his office with such a request nor was any such request declined. He also expressed ignorance about any such complaint being made to him or anyone else.
BJP state spokesperson Umashanker Gupta alleged that the permission to put up tents was denied by the Bhopal district collector, who is also the returning officer. “We have complained to the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) in this regard,” he said.
In the memorandum submitted to the MPHRC, the BJP has accused the Election Commission of inhuman treatment to its party workers as it did not allow the workers who sat outside polling booths to use tents to protect themselves from the scorching heat April 23 when 13 of the states 29 parliamentary seats went to the polls.
The BJP has also asked the rights body to direct the poll panel to allow party workers to use tents during the next phase of polling April 30 when votes would be polled for the remaining 16 seats.
rounak