Sunny approaches HC fearing misuse of official machinery

BJP candidate seeks measures to ensure free, fair polling

BJP candidate Sunny Deol campaigning in Gurdaspur on Friday.

Actor and BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol on Friday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court “fearing misuse of official machinery” by the ruling Congress and sought adequate measures, including deployment of additional paramilitary forces, to ensure free and fair polling.

Mr. Deol also demanded that the Gurdaspur constituency be declared “super sensitive”, claiming it was prone to violence.

He cited the incidents of poll-related violence in the border constituency during panchayat polls which were conducted across the State in December 2018. “We moved the court because we feared the official machinery could be misused in the elections by the Congress,” advocate Pankaj Jain, the counsel for Mr. Deol, told reporters.

He said after they filed the petition before a division Bench of Justices Daya Chaudhary and Sudhir Mittal, the court sought to know from the Election Commission about the measures being taken to ensure free and fair polls in Gurdaspur.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted before the court that the “Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat is a prestigious constituency as not only the petitioner is a popular figure, he is contesting the election against a candidate who is State president of the Congress.”

EC reply

The counsel representing the Election Commission informed the court that 24 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces would be deployed at 866 polling booths in the parliamentary constituency.

In many booths, multiple security measures, including adequate deployment of State police force, have also been undertaken, the EC counsel further informed the court.