Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In another crucial development in Balaghat postal ballot tampering case, the Election Commmission of India has suspended SDM Gopal Soni on Wednesday morning. Deputy Collector Rahul Nayak has been given the charge for now.

Earlier on Tuesday, nodal officer Himmat Singh (Tehsildar) was suspended.

The back-to-back suspensions come after a Congress delegation filed a complaint with the Election Commission, stating postal ballot boxes were opened in in the strong room of the treasury office in Balaghat,accusing the officers of tampering. The party workers have also recorded and submitted the video as a proof.

In Delhi, Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Salman Khurshid and Gurdeep Singh Sappal reached the commission office and submitted a memorandum here, demanding strict action in the matter.

Congress had filed complaint

Talking about the matter, Singhvi had said, “We have also given the video related to the Balaghat case to the Election Commission. It is clearly visible that the election officers, who are the protectors, are becoming the predators. They are tampering with the postal ballot. This is a very serious matter. We express hope and confidence that action will be taken as soon as possible regarding the misuse of government machinery and violation of the election code of conduct.”

“We have talked to the Election Commission on three main issues. The first issue is regarding violation of the code of conduct by serious and indecent statements by PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. We have told the Election Commission that these things are extremely objectionable and against the code of conduct. The playing field of law should be equal for everyone,” he added.

Singhvi further talked about two more issues and said, “The second issue is regarding the Telangana elections, in which the code of conduct is being continuously violated by the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in different ways. The third issue is about tampering with postal ballots in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. We hope that the Election Commission will take action against these complaints.”

Unforgivable crime: Kamal Nath

​Meanwhile, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath called it an unforgivable crime.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Transparency and integrity are the basic principles of democracy. The way postal ballots were opened in Balaghat yesterday is a serious misconduct. After that, the way the government machinery and responsible officials tried to justify this act is an even more unforgivable crime.”