Uttar Pradesh: DM transferred over discrepancies in counting of votes in Kairana by-polls

The Election Commission has found lapses on part of District Magistrate/Returning Officer Inder Vikram Singh during the Kairana by-polls in May 2018.

File photo of Tabassum Hasan of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). PTI

MUZAFFAR NAGAR: RLD MP Tabassum Hasan has welcomed the Election Commission's decision to transfer the Shamli district magistrate over charges of irregularities during counting of votes in the Kairana by-polls, PTI reported on Thursday. Speaking to reporters here, she noted that her party had filed a complaint with the poll body after she found discrepancies in the margin of votes polled in her favour in the by-polls held in May this year. The Election Commission has found lapses on part of District Magistrate/Returning Officer Inder Vikram Singh during the Kairana by-polls in May 2018, an official said. Singh has been transferred on the direction of the poll body, he said. Akhilesh Kumar was posted as the new district magistrate of Shamli on November 13, the official added. Tabassum Hasan, who opened the Rashtriya Lok Dal account in the 16th Lok Sabha by defeating BJP's Mriganka Singh in Kairana, is the first Muslim MP from Uttar Pradesh among the present members of the House. Hasan, who had support of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate by over 44,000 votes. The Kairana seat had fallen vacant following the death of Mriganka Singh's father and BJP MP Hukum Singh. The BJP, which won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls along with two won by its ally, now has 68 MPs from the state. (With inputs from agencies)