SEC tightens vigil against coercion and inducement in Panchayat polls
Hyderabad: Taking serious note of the ‘auctioning of posts’ and forced withdrawals being employed to secure uncontested results in Gram Panchayat elections and stating that such practices vitiate the environment of the electoral process, the State Election Commission on Thursday asked the District Election Authority (DEA) to activate a Monitoring Cell to verify reports of auctioning, inducement, intimidation and coercion and take action.
SEC Secretary Manda Makarandu issued a circular on Thursday directing all the district election authorities to activate a Monitoring Cell to verify receive reports of auctioning, inducement, intimidation and coercion and other relevant actions under Section 211 of Telangana Panchayat Raj Act in real-time i.e; through written complaint, WhatsApp, oral complaint or newspaper clippings.
The Secretary said that recording of statements in cases where withdrawals lead to a single/uncontested candidate remaining, the Returning Officer (RO) should obtain a declaration from withdrawing candidates confirming their withdrawal is voluntary and the RO should obtain a declaration from the single/uncontested candidate (Annexure-II) confirming no auctioning, inducement, coercion as under Section 211 of Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.
Regarding the preparation of result sheet, upon the expiry of the time for withdrawal, if a single candidate remains, the RO should prepare the result sheet (Form-X) and the declaration of election. Before formally signing and handing over the declaration to the candidate, the RO should transmit the factual position to the District Election Authority through the fastest means (WhatsApp/Email/Special Messenger).
The District Election Authority should verify the report received from the Special Monitoring Cell. If there is no complaint of auctioning/ intimidation/ inducement/ coercion as under Section 211 of Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 exists, the Collector and District Election Authority should issue a “No Objection / Clearance” for declaration of the result of uncontested election immediately as prescribed in the format prescribed.
This process must be completed strictly within same day of the withdrawal deadline. Upon receipt of the “No Objection/Clearance” (which may be communicated digitally to save time), the RO shall forthwith declare the result in Form-X. The circular said that if and only if there is prima facie evidence or a credible report of vitiating environment in the village. The DEA should order the RO to withhold the declaration temporarily.
A summary inquiry shall be conducted immediately (within 24 hours). If the DEA is satisfied that the environment of election was vitiated and election process are compromised in a wholesale fashion, the report should be sent to the Commission with a recommendation to countermand the election in those respective Gram Panchayats and the Wards. These instructions are intended to ensure that the “uncontested” status is genuine.
