Parties claim Election Commission \'delayed\' bypoll result

HYDERABAD: Election Commission officials faced severe criticism from political parties, especially the TRS and the BJP, which blamed them for the abnormal delay in declaration of the bypoll result.

Union minister G. Kishan Reddy made a phone call to Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj on Sunday over the delay in round-wise declaration of votes.

BJP legislator M. Raghunandan Rao and the party vice-president D.K. Aruna found fault with EC officials. Ironically, even TRS leaders alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was dictating constitutional bodies like the Election Commission.

Results of the high-voltage election were declared late on Sunday way after the scheduled time. BJP leaders alleged that EC officials intentionally delayed the results, when their candidate Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy secured a lead in any round.

EC sources said that some rounds of results were delayed because of tea break. There is no scope for any malpractice during the election process, they said.

ECI observers keenly monitored the counting process, which was stated as another reason for the delay. Compared to other states, the Munugode election had the highest number of candidates in the fray at 47.

Vikas Raj said that around 1,500 staff were involved in the counting process. “We have taken all steps for fair and peaceful conduct of the bypoll and all sections cooperated, '' he said.

It was only after observers had approved round-wise counting of votes that results were declared, he said. Vikas Raj said that new software was introduced for tabulation of results on the Election Commission website.