Cllr. Rana commited the crime, did he do the time?

 

by Brian Bamford & Les May

with help from Carl Faulkner

Last year Allen Brett Rochdale's council leader said Cllr. Rana had ‘stepped away’ from his cabinet responsibilities.

ON the 16th, August 2018 businessman and big time Rochdale landlord, Cllr. Rana, was said to have 'stepped away' from his responsibilities as assistant to the finance portfolio holder Labour leader Allen Brett. It must be a cosy relationship.   In August last year Cllr. Rana was outed as a vote swindler by Carl Faulkner for falsely claiming two postal votes, Council leader Brett was quick to defend Cllr. Rana.   

After expressing initial regret Brett said:  'Naturally I am disappointed in Cllr. Rana's error [but] he is a very talented individual who shares our collective passion to improve our borough.’

Now the landlord Rana, who duped the electorate in 2018, is now comfortably back in the saddle next to the boss-man Brett. 
 
Who says crime doesn't pay?

Cllr. Rana must be very talented to purloin two postal votes for himself out of the British electoral system and to now land a top job helping the Council leader Cllr. Brett to run the town's financial affairs. There are not many of us that could do that and get away with it.

Farooq Ahmed, who was in charge of finance in 2014, was not so lucky as Cllr. Rana; when a fellow Labour Councillorr Neil Emmott claimed he had been the victim of a homophobic remark from Cllr. Ahmed.  Cllr. Ahmed was alleged to have warned him to 'mind his back' in an altercation on Cheetham Street in Rochdale.  Cllr. Emmott was at the time working for the now disgraced Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, who ultimately left the Labour Party under a cloud.   Cllr, Ahmed ended up leaving the Labour Party after he was convicted of a public order offence.

It's a strange world in which someone guilty of a public order offence loses his position as head of Finance, while a self-confessed election fraudster keeps his job.  Perhaps poor Cllr. Ahmed, who is of Bangldeshi origin didn't put his nose in the right place, or maybe he simply didn't own enough real estate in Rochdale.

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Why Deeplish? Odd Statistics & 'Electoral Fraud'!

Dear Brian,

May I ask why you and Northern Voices seem to automatically think the complaint regarding electoral fraud relates to either Milkstone and Deeplish ward or Central Rochdale ward?

Many thanks 

Councillor Neil Emmott

Dear Councillor Emmott,

Have you perused the figures for Milkstone & Deeplish ward for the local elections of 2015?  77.7% for the winning candidate?  Meanwhile, the other four candidates got just over 22%.  With the greatest respect, doesn't that seem like a strange result statistically to you?  One worthy of some examination?  Such results are more commonly achieved historically in one party states.

Your sincerely,

Brian Bamford:  (Joint-Editor of Northern Voices)

BELOW is the result of the Rochdale local election for 2015 in Central Rochdale ward refered to by Councillor Neil Emmott above.

Central Rochdale ward

Central Rochdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Ali Ahmed	2,455	57.9	-21.6
	Independent	Farooq Ahmed	972	22.9	+22.9
	UKIP	Angela Gardner	473	11.1	+11.1
	Conservative	Roger Howarth	193	4.5	-1.6
	Independent	Andy Littlewood	80	1.9	-5.2
	TUSC	David Fenwick-Finn	69	1.6	+1.6
Majority			1,483	34.9	-37.4
Turnout			4,242
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing