Bageshwar bypoll: BJP state chief writes to Election Commission accusing poll observer of favouring Cong, seeks replacement

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India] September 4 : BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission, accusing the central observer for the upcoming Bageshwar Assembly bypoll, Rajesh Kumar, of bias and demanding that he be replaced at the earliest.
In his letter to the poll panel, the BJP state chief accused the observer for the Bageshwar bye-election of patronising the Congress and working against the BJP.
Following his letter, a delegation of BJP leaders met the chief electoral officer, demanding action against the poll observer.
"The conduct of Mr. Rajesh Kumar, who has been appointed as the Central Observer by the Election Commission in this election (Bageshwar bypoll), is suspicious and highly indecent," the BJP state chief wrote to the central election panel.
"On one hand he is harassing the workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and on the other hand, he is pressurizing the officials as well for the same. At the same time, while acting like an active member of the Congress party, he is providing direct and indirect benefits to the Congress candidate due to which the fairness of the election is being affected," he added in his letter.
Bhatt urged the Election Commission to take due cognisance of the matter and ensure "immediate and appropriate action" against the poll observer.
Polling for the Bageshwar Assembly segment, which fell vacant following the demise of the sitting BJP MLA, is scheduled to be held on September 5.
Earlier, on Sunday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami talked up the ruling BJP's prospects in the Bageshwar bypoll, saying that the party's candidate — the widow of the departed MLA Chandan Ram Das, Parvati — would win by a handsome majority.
Addressing a rally ahead of the September 5 bye-election, earlier, CM Dhami said, "We have always received the blessings of the voters here in Bageshwar, and this time, too, I can sense that the public mood is in our favour. I am hopeful that the BJP and our candidate Parvati Das will win with a thumping majority."
The chief minister, according to sources, is likely to expand his council of ministers after the bye-election.