MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Election Commission has ordered the suspension of a polling officer and a police constable in Solapur for allowing a minor boy to enter a polling booth with his father, a candidate in the Zilla Parishad election.
A video went viral on social media last week, which showed a 14-year-old boy, accompanied by his father, allegedly casting a vote at the Yashwant Nagar polling station in Akluj during the Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on February 7.
In the video, NCP (SP) candidate Arjun Sinh Mohite Patil's son is seen standing next to him inside a polling booth, pressing the EVM button.
The SEC, in a letter to the Solapur collector on February 10, stated that permitting a child inside the polling compartment was a violation of election rules.
Based on a preliminary report, the poll body found negligence in election duty by polling officer Anna Savata Budhe and police constable Gajanan Sitaram Rajut, who were deployed at the booth.
The SEC has ordered the immediate suspension of both officials and departmental disciplinary proceedings against them.
It has also directed the district administration to submit a detailed compliance report at the earliest.
The commission further stated that an FIR has been registered in connection with the incident, naming Mohite-Patil, and directed the collector to send a factual report on the status of the case and subsequent action.