Indian Army gets election body notice in Ladakh

A major controversy has erupted after an independent candidate for Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency alleged that the army officers are violating the poll secrecy by asking jawans about their voting preferences instead of supplying them ballot papers. Acting on the complaint, Leh Election Officer Avny Lavasa has written to the general officer commanding (GOC) of Leh based 14 Corps asking him to sensitise the officers about the voting

“A complaint has been received from a contesting candidate for the Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency for the Lok Sabha elections, 2019, wherein it is alleged that there are malpractices on part of various commanding officers of the Indian Army in the electronic postal ballot system. It is alleged that the commanding officers are telephonically asking jawans for their voting preference rather than supplying to them the ballot paper for casting their votes”, read the letter to GoC 14 Corps.

Cautioning against the malpractice, Lavasa asked the GOC to sensitize the officers about the sanctity of the election process. “This is a gross violation of the secrecy of voting and a malpractice that has the potential to invite strict legal action. In this context, it is requested that all the concerned officers may be sensitized about the issue and the sanctity of the election process maintained,” the letter added

This follows the formal complaint filed by the independent candidate Sajjad Hussain to Lavasa about the violation of the right to vote of the army personnel. Colonel Rajesh Kalia, the defence spokesman at Srinagar, said preliminary investigations indicate that the complaints appear to have been made to tarnish the Army's image.