Four Polling Officials Suspended in Shimla Over Negligence During Panchayat Election Duty
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Shimla, May 26: District Election Officer (Panchayat) and Deputy Commissioner Shimla Anupam Kashyap has suspended four members of Polling Party No. 65 with immediate effect for alleged negligence during Panchayati Raj election duty.
According to the administration, the incident occurred at Polling Station Brandli-1 in Ward No. 1 of Gram Panchayat Narain, where serious procedural lapses were detected during the polling process.
Officials stated that the polling party mistakenly left the NOTA (None of the Above) rubber stamp along with the designated arrow cross mark seal inside the voting compartment. The issue came to light after a voter complained that he had inadvertently stamped NOTA instead of marking a candidate.
By the time the matter was reported to the Assistant Returning Officer, 124 voters had already cast their votes. The administration termed the lapse a serious violation affecting the election process, following which polling was temporarily halted.
Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap said that election duty requires complete responsibility and vigilance, and negligence in such sensitive work would not be tolerated.
The suspended officials include Presiding Officer Anil Kumar (TGT, Government High School Dev Nagar), Polling Officer Prakash Chand (LT, Government High School Mashnu), Polling Officer Raj Kumar (PET, GSSS Munish Bahali) and Polling Officer Ramesh Chand (JOA-IT, Electricity Sub Division Sarahan).
As per the suspension order, the headquarters of all suspended officials during the suspension period has been fixed at the office of the Block Development Officer, Rampur. The order has come into immediate effect.
