Nainital panchayat polls: Counting of votes held under tight security, result after HC's verdict

Nainital, Aug 15 (PTI) The counting of votes for the zilla panchayat president elections in Nainital district was held under tight security on Friday, a day after Congress accused the BJP of kidnapping five of its zilla panchayat members to prevent them from casting their votes and approached the high court regarding the matter.

The high court listed the matter for the next hearing on August 18 (Monday).

The district election officer took the decision to count votes following directions from the state Election Commission.

Election officials clarified that the election rules have no provision for re-polling except in cases of booth capturing, technical faults or damage to sealed ballot boxes — none of which applied in this case.

Nainital District Magistrate Vandana Singh on Thursday assured the high court that she would request the state election body to order a repoll for the posts in the district after Congress levelled kidnapping allegations against the BJP.

After the vote count was completed, the state EC sealed the results in an envelope.

The sealed result will be presented before the high court on August 18.

The winner will be declared only after the court’s verdict.

The court had directed the senior superintendent of police (SSP) and the district magistrate to investigate the matter and appear before it on Monday. PTI COR ALM ALM AMJ AMJ AMJ