Keep UP Additional Chief Home Secretary Awasthi away from poll process: Cong to EC

Lucknow, Dec 28: The Congress on Tuesday demanded from the Election Commission of India to keep Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi away from the poll process of the state assembly so that he does "affect" it.

The UP Congress party raised the demand during its meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and elections commissioners Rajeev Kumar and Anoop Chandra Pandey.

The CEC and the two ECs reached Lucknow on Tuesday evening and are slated to take stock of the state's poll preparedness over the next few days. The poll panel's 13-member delegation is on a three-day visit to the state.

As part of its review of the Uttar Pradesh poll preparedness, the Election Commission held a series of meetings with the representatives of various political parties which raised their specific poll-related demands and concerns.

While the Congress party sought the side-lining of the state's key bureaucrat, the BJP urged the poll panel to depute women security personnel at every polling booth in the state to identify genuine women voters.

The Samajwadi Party on the other hand urged the poll panel delegation to prepare a separate list of specially-abled voters and those above the age of 80 years and make arrangement for them to vote from their homes.

"UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi be kept away from the electoral process as he may affect polls," UP Congress leader Virendra Madan said in a statement here after the meeting of the Congress delegation with the poll panel functionaries.