Though the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha byelection on February 24 passed off peacefully, the issue of postal ballots of service personnel has created a controversy.

The Congress has asked the Election Commission (EC) to ban the postal ballots for the byelection, claiming “inappropriate” means adopted by the ruling BJP in getting these ballots in its favour. The counting of votes will be done on Wednesday.

In a letter to the EC, Congress candidate and former Union Minister Satpal Maharaj has alleged that BJP candidate Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd), having support of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen B C Khanduri (retd), is getting the postal ballots of Army personnel hailing from Pauri Garhwal through their respective units posted in various parts of the country.

Maharaj has said that to meet the deadline of February 27, the day of counting of votes, a retired Army officer, working for the BJP, had been manipulating the postal ballots to be sent directly to Pauri where the counting will be taken up.

The Congress is demanding a probe by the CBI, claiming that the Election Officer of Pauri Garhwal is under tremendous pressure of the state Government to decide the timing of the counting of votes.