Ukd: BJP candidate wins district panchayat president's post by one vote in controversial election

Nainital, Aug 19 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate won the Nainital District Panchayat president post by just one vote against the rival Congress candidate, according to results declared on Tuesday of the controversial August 14 election.

The Congress had accused the ruling BJP of kidnapping some of its Zila Panchayat members to prevent them from casting their votes and their family members had approached the Uttarakhand High Court, which is hearing the matter.

The Congress candidate was declared elected to the post of district panchayat vice president, following a draw of lots after a tie with the BJP candidate.

BJP candidate Deepa Darmwal defeated Congress candidate Pushpa Negi in the election to the district panchayat president's post. Out of the total 22 votes cast, Darmwal got 11 votes while Negi got 10 votes. One vote was cancelled.

BJP candidate Bahadur Nagdali and Congress candidate Devki Bisht got 10 votes each for the post of District Panchayat Vice President, after which the winner was decided by lottery, which went in favour of Bisht.

Out of the votes cast, one was declared invalid, while another vote was left blank.

Nainital District Magistrate Vandana Singh gave certificates to the winning candidates after the results were announced.

During the election, there was also a scuffle between BJP workers and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Yashpal Arya, former Nainital MLA Sanjeev Arya and Haldwani MLA Sumit Hridayesh.

It was also alleged that the police remained silent spectator in this matter. The entire incident was broadcast live on Yashpal Arya's Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the family members of the missing Zila Panchayat members approached the High Court, after which the court ordered the police to take them to the polling booth under security.

After the polling, the counting of votes took place under tight security, after which the results were kept in a sealed envelope. The counting of votes was also videographed.

The results of the elections for the post of District Panchayat President and Vice President were declared on Tuesday.

The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday came down heavily on police over the violence during the election.

''Where was your police force? What were the history sheeters doing in the city? Are you deliberately protecting the criminals? Do you think we are blind?'' a division bench of Chief Justice G Narendra and Justice Alok Mehra had said, pulling up Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prahlad Narayan Meena.

The SSP had assured the High Court that all the accused would be arrested within 24 hours.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice slammed the SSP and said, "Nainital is not just a tourist town. There is also the High Court here.'' The court even advised the government to transfer the SSP, though it did not give any final decision on the issue. PTI CORR DPT NOM RT