SAD urges Election Commission to review postings of SSPs in Punjab

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) requested the Election Commission on Wednesday to review the postings and transfers of Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and other officers allegedly done with an ''ulterior motive'' of influencing the upcoming Punjab assembly polls.

In a representation to the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) here, a two-member SAD delegation of Maheshinder Singh Grewal and Daljit Singh Cheema also urged the panel to appoint a regular director general of police on merit in the state to boost confidence of the people and also deploy central forces at polling booths, according to a party release.

It called for videography at all polling booths and requested the EC to issue directions to the state government to stop “misleading and bogus advertisements” at the cost of taxpayers' money.

The SAD representation said the manner in which transfers were allegedly being done on “monetary concerns”, as reported by a section of the media, had put a big question mark on the conduct of the forthcoming assembly elections in a free and fair manner.

It said it was strange that in the last three months, the government could not appoint a regular DGP and had purposely appointed an acting DGP to keep senior officers on “tenterhooks and coerce” them into implementing its “political agenda of vendetta” against the SAD and its top leadership.

The ECI full bench arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day visit to take stock of the preparations for the Punjab assembly polls that are due early next year.

On the first day of the visit, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey held separate meetings with political representatives and officials of police and paramilitary forces, according to an official statement.