NEW DELHI: The Election Commission Friday night directed Rajya Sabha election returning officers of Haryana and Maharashtra to go ahead with the counting of votes which was held up following complaints about violation of rules.
The poll panel also directed the returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande.
The top brass of the EC went through detailed reports submitted by the returning officers of the two states, including video footage, before giving the go-ahead for counting, officials said.
The counting was held up in Maharashtra after the BJP alleged that three MLAs of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- Cabinet ministers Jitendra Awhad (NCP) and Yashomati Thakur (Congress) and Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande -- violated the model code for voting.
The BJP has alleged that Awhad and Thakur handed over their ballots to their party agents instead of only showing them the ballots, while Kande showed his ballot to two different agents. The counting was put on hold in Haryana for identical reasons.
The BJP and the Independent candidate backed by it have urged the Election Commission to cancel the votes of two Congress MLAs in the state.
BJP nominee Krishan Lal Panwar and Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma shot off a missive to the EC, alleging Congress MLAs Kiran Choudhary and B B Batra showed their ballot papers to unauthorised persons after marking them and that the episodes were "duly captured" on cameras.
The Congress has, meanwhile, approached the Election Commission accusing the BJP of trying to defeat the process of free and fair election to the Rajya Sabha in Haryana and demanded immediate declaration of results.