Erode East byelection: Returning officer replaced

ERODE: The Election Commission of India has replaced Erode East returning officer Narnaware Manish Shankarrao, who is the commissioner of the Erode Municipal Corporation, with Hosur Municipal Corporation commissioner H S Srikanth. Shankarrao was removed in the wake of a controversy over him accepting the nomination papers of a Karnataka-based woman for the Erode East byelection.
Srikanth took charge as the returning officer on Wednesday.
Agni Aalvar, a resident of Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district who filed his nomination papers for the Feb 5 Erode East byelection, lodged a complaint with chief electoral officer Archana Patnaik on Monday. He raised concerns about the returning officer accepting V Padmavathi's nomination, asserting that she is from Karnataka and that the local election officials failed to properly scrutinise her papers.
On Tuesday, Shankarrao rejected Padmavathi's nomination stating that the decision was made in line with the Election Commission of India's directives.
On Wednesday, based on ECI's direction, the CEO placed Shankarrao in waiting and appointed Srikanth as the new returning officer.