Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: A police officer was caught on camera pointing a pistol at civilians and threatening to fire at them. Five police personnel were suspended for violating election commission (EC) guidelines prohibiting them from examining the identity cards of voters. Opposition party supporters, especially Muslims, were allegedly prevented or discouraged through strong-arm tactics by the police from casting their vote at multiple stations. An opposition candidate was so aggrieved by allegations of bias and misconduct against Muslims and his booth agents that he demanded that the entire election be scrapped and conducted afresh. The Election Commission of India had to take cognisance of these complaints of arbitrary checking and preventing voters from voting and issue directions to officials on the ground to ensure free and fair elections without any bias against any community.
These are just some of the highlights of an action-packed bypoll in Uttar Pradesh where voting was conducted on nine seats on November 20.
After a heated campaign by the two main blocs – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) – all eyes were on the actual voting process amid rising concerns regarding administrative partiality and police excesses.
In the end, the nine seats recorded an average voting percentage of 49.3. Kundarki, Meerapur and Katehari seats recorded the highest voting percentage – 57.7, 57.1 and 56.9 respectively. The urban seat of Ghaziabad, as expected, recorded the lowest turnout – a dismal 33.3%. Khair in Aligarh and Phulpur in Prayagraj also did not do that well as they saw turnouts of 46.3% and 43.4% respectively. Karhal had a turnout of 54.1%, Majhawan 50.4 % and Shishamau 49.1%.
The voting process was marred by controversies from the outset as the opposition SP shared multiple videos allegedly showing its voters facing trouble casting their vote. While we cannot independently verify each of the videos shared by the opposition, several complaints of misconduct from the police on duty were acknowledged by election and administrative officials themselves.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP accused the police of bias and alleged that some officers and officials were working in the capacity of BJP workers. “It seems that the senses of the Election Commission have dulled. It can neither see nor hear despite so many complaints. BJP wants to win these by-elections not by vote but by ‘khot‘ (insincerity),” said Yadav.
Addressing a hurriedly-convened press conference in the middle of the voting process, Yadav alleged that fearing a defeat, the BJP was pressuring the administration to indulge in foul play. He alleged that the police and other officials were preventing the SP voters from exercising their right to ensure an advantage to the BJP.
The EC later said it has taken cognisance of the complaints regarding “arbitrary checking and prevention of voters from voting” in certain constituencies in UP. After a thorough enquiry, five police personnel were suspended in Moradabad, Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar for violating the norms and guidelines regarding checking of voters, the panel said. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar strictly directed all concerned district election officers and 13 central observers to ensure a free, fair and impartial election process without any bias against any communication, the EC said.
A day before the voting, Uttar Pradesh Chief Election Officer Navdeep Rinwa had issued directions to all district police chiefs where polling was to be held to ensure strict compliance with the EC directives that the police would not check people’s voting IDs outside the polling booths. The primary role of the police force was to ensure law and order on the day of the voting, Chandrashekhar, additional CEC of UP, said in a directive after the SP requested that the police follow the guidelines.
Chandrashekhar also instructed the officials to follow the procedures laid out for women voters especially those who are veiled.
Shyam Lal Pal, SP’s state president, had on the eve of the voting written to the UP CEC requesting directions that the police not be allowed to check the ID cards of voters.
Pal cited a past bad experience. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, police personnel deployed for security at the polling station had misused their power and intimidated SP supporting voters, especially Muslim women, by removing their veils on the pretext of identification, he said. These voters had to return without casting their votes, affecting the election and causing a fall in the voting percentage, added Pal.
Reacting to Pal’s letter, UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya alleged that the SP was engaging in a “conspiracy to get fake voting done by making people wear burqa.” “For fair elections, it is necessary to ensure special checking of voters who vote wearing burqa,” said Maurya.
UP CEO Rinwa reassured the opposition saying that the police were not authorised to check identity cards and that only the polling staff and presiding officers could do so.
On polling day, however, there were multiple complaints of police personnel checking the identity cards of voters.
In Moradabad, the district magistrate said they had taken cognisance of complaints that barricades had been put up in some localities, causing trouble to voters. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Satpal Antil said wherever they received such complaints against the police, the concerned personnel was removed from duty immediately. Departmental action would also be taken, said Antil.
A sub-inspector and two constables were removed from their duty in Moradabad, said the officer.
In Muzaffarnagar, sub-inspectors Neeraj Kumar and Ompal Singh were suspended for not following the guidelines of the election commission. The police also initiated departmental action against them.
The EC in Uttar Pradesh said that it had taken the complaints regarding voter ID checks seriously and suspended two personnel each in Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar.
Former MLA and SP candidate in Kundarki (Moradabad), Mohammad Rizwan wrote to the EC and district election officer alleging that only the members of a particular community were being allowed to cast their votes while the other community (Muslims) was facing a storm of lathis from the administration.
He also demanded that the state police be removed from election duty and that the paramilitary forces be deployed for the election process.
“This is to inform you that the local police are threatening and beating Samajwadi Party polling agents at all booths (1 to 396) They are also mistreating our workers. The BJP is distributing different coloured slips, and the local police are favouring those with these slips,” alleged Rizwan in the middle of the voting process.
It is imperative that all political parties are given equal opportunity to participate without fear of violence or intimidation, wrote Rizwan.
In another controversy, police officer Rajeev Sharma, the SHO of Kakrauli in Muzaffarnagar, was seen in a video pointing his pistol towards some locals in a lane. While it initially appeared that he was aiming at some Muslim women, senior police officers later clarified the SHO was trying to disperse some alleged miscreants who had pelted stones at the police.
Akhilesh Yadav shared a clip of the incident and demanded that the EC suspend the SHO, accusing him of preventing voters from casting their votes by threatening them with a revolver.
The video created outrage on social media against the UP police. SSP Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Singh, later said that the SHO was engaging in “riot control”.
“The video is incomplete and is being made viral as part of a conspiracy,” the officer said.
SSP Singh said that Kakrauli police had reached the village after receiving information that there had been a scuffle between two groups. When the police reached the spot, the people first tried to block the road and then pelted stones at the police, said Singh.
“Police brought the situation under control using light force. When the video was made the trouble makers had escaped from there,” he said.
The officer said that the trouble makers had pushed the women in front and gave a clean chit to the SHO.
“Police followed the rules and acted to keep the law and order situation normal on voting day,” Singh said.
UP CEO Rinwa said the stone pelting incident took place at some distance from the polling booth in Meerapur constituency in Muzaffarnagar. It did not disrupt voting, he said.
Later, an FIR was lodged against 25 persons, including three women, for pelting stones at the police and disrupting official work. According to the FIR, the dispute broke out between the supporters of two sides, SP and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, over voting for their respective candidates.
In Mainpuri’s Karhal the body of a murdered 23-year-old Dalit girl was discovered on voting day. Her death was politicised by the BJP as it linked the accused person to the SP.
The girl’s family alleged that the accused persons Prashant Yadav and Mohan Katheria, murdered her to prevent her from voting for the BJP. This point will be included in the investigation, said Vinod Kumar, SP Mainpuri.
UP deputy chief minister Maurya took a dig at the SP over the incident.
“The brutal murder of a Dalit girl in Karhal has exposed the gunda raj and black deeds of the SP,” said Maurya.