The State Election Commission has directed the officers to take proper action with regard to incidents of auctioning gram panchayat seats. The officers could register criminal cases against those engaged in auctioning the seats.
State Election Commissioner B. Basavaraj gave the instruction through video-conference on Thursday. There were reports of a few seats auctioned in Hassan district. The commissioner said auctioning the seats was illegal and it would attract criminal case.
Hassan Deputy Commissioner R. Girish said the administration had information about auctioning of seats in three gram panchayats. The assistant commissioners visited 10 villages and verified the facts. “There was no auction process. However, in these villages people have been electing their members unopposed in the last few elections”, he said.
Further, he also said a few villagers in Sakleshpur taluk have announced boycott of the elections, citing opposition to the implementation of Dr.K.Kasturirangan’s report on the Western Ghats. “The assistant commissioner will hold talks with those villagers and convince them to take part in the election”, he said.
