The Election Commission of India has directed the chief electoral officer of Manipur to issue show cause notice to BJP candidate Woba Joram who was accused of buying votes ahead of polls in the state after a sting operation conducted by a news channel went viral. The poll panel also ordered registering FIRs against three candidates in Uttar Pradesh and one in Manipur after a TV sting purportedly showed them indulging in electoral malpractices.
Officials said that the poll panel has taken cognisance of the sting by a private TV news channel, the and directed poll authorities in the two states to issue show cause notices to the candidates and lodge FIRs under various sections of the IPC dealing with electoral bribery and Representation of the People Act.
The candidates identified by the Commission through the sting belong to different political parties including BSP and SP. They are BSP's Ateeq Ahmad Saifi contesting from Moradabad, SP's Atul Garg from Agra North and Peace Party's Rakesh Balmeeki from Agra Cantt. Woba Joram from the Mao seat in Manipur is the other candidate against whom action has been ordered.