NEW DEHLI India, June 26, Reuter: Election officials have ordered a fresh round of voting in parts of two Indian Parliamentary constituencies where the opposition and ruling Congress (1) Party have accused each other of vote rigging.
An Election Commission official said on Saturday night voting would be held next month in nearly 175 polling stations in Faridabad, near New Delhi, and Udhampur, in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Opposition candidates were ahead in both constituencies, two of seven seats at stake in byelections earlier this month.
Of the results declared so far, opposition has won three and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s party two seats.
The most embarrassing defeat for the ruling party was in Allahabad, Gandhi’s ancestral hometown in Uttar Pradesh State, where his chief opponent and former cabinet colleague Vishwanath Pratap Singh won by a handsome majority.
On Saturday, Gandhi expanded his cabinet and removed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bahadur Singh with a view to improving his party’s chances of winning the general elections due in December, 1989.
Uttar Pradesh sends more members to Parliament than any other State, 85 out of 544.
Singh was made a Cabinet Minister in the Central Government. His place was taken former Finance Minister Narain Dutt Tiwan, a veteran Uttar Pradesh politician.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 1, 1988
