Punjab CEO Anindita Mitra says claim is incorrect

Chandigarh, 12 October (H.S.): The Election Commission has rejected the claim that a photograph of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh was used against an elector’s name in the voter list of the Ludhiana East Assembly constituency.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra said the claim was incorrect. To support its clarification, the CEO’s office also released an extract of the final electoral roll containing the disputed entry at serial number 422 of polling booth number 38.

The issue had triggered a political controversy after Congress MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring claimed on social media platform X that Bhagat Singh’s photograph had been placed against the name of a voter in the Ludhiana East electoral roll. He had sought an impartial inquiry into the matter and demanded that its findings be made public.

Earlier, former Ludhiana East MLA and Congress leader Sanjay Talwar had also raised the issue. He claimed that there were other discrepancies related to photographs in the voter list of booth number 38 and demanded scrutiny of electoral rolls of all 235 polling booths in the constituency.

The Election Commission has now categorically denied the specific allegation concerning Bhagat Singh’s photograph and placed the relevant section of the final electoral roll in the public domain to support its position.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH