A polling officer at a booth in Harohalli here was removed on Thursday after Congress candidate from the Kolar Lok Sabha constituency K.H. Muniyappa got the direction of the electronic voting machine (EVM) changed so that he could vote facing east.
Following Mr. Muniyappa’s instructions, his followers changed the EVM’s direction in the presence of media representatives, and polling officer Manjula did not object to it.
Mr. Muniyappa cast his vote according to his convenience and some TV channels telecast the visuals.
On learning about this, Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner D.K. Ravi appointed Manjunath as polling officer in booth no. 230 in place of Ms. Manjula.
Ms. Manjula not preventing Mr. Muniyappa’s supporters from changing the EVM’s direction amounted to conniving with a particular candidate and violated the model code of conduct, according to the Returning Officer.
