E-Paper
Govt employees, Oppn hits back at Haryana former CM Khattar over ‘bogus voting’ claim
Virender Dhariwal, state president, Pension Bahaali Sangharsh Samiti, condemned the former CM’s remark and questioned on what capacity he can initiate action against employees
Two days after former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar levelled allegations against some government officials and Congress for their involvement in “bogus voting”, the employees and Opposition leaders on Thursday hit back at Khattar terming his “allegations false and baseless.”
Vijender Dhariwal, state president, Pension Bahaali Sangharsh Samiti, condemned the former CM’s remark and questioned on what capacity he can initiate action against employees.
“We had written to the Election Commission of India and Haryana demanding strict action against the BJP candidate from Karnal Manohar Lal Khattar, who threatened the government employees that action would be taken against them after BJP voted to power on June 4. Khattar claimed that some government employees were found indulging in bogus voting, which is false and if anyone is found in fraudulent practice it is the duty of the Election Commission of India to take action against such employees. In what capacity is he making such threats? No complaints of bogus voting were reported in Haryana and voting was held peacefully,” he added.
President of Haryana school lecture association Satpal Sindhu also condemned the former CM Khattar’s remark over bogus voting.
“The former CM should apologise to government employees for his remarks. Instead of making such false remarks, he should hold talks with government employees to know the problems they faced during the elections. Due to the administration’s failure, many government employees could not cast their vote. The government employees had submitted forms 12 and 12-A on time but ballot papers were not issued to them,” he said.
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that Khattar is threatening state officers and employees out of frustration over the anticipated loss. Such threats are beyond the former CM’s authority, he added. He questioned the legitimacy of these actions both during and after the election period. He said any grievances should have been addressed by the Election Commission, noting that the former CM Manohar Lal Khattar is himself a candidate in the Lok Sabha race.
Speaking on the issue, former education minister and Jhajjar law-maker Geeta Bhukkal said the former CM’s remarks depict his frustration that his party will perform poorly in the Lok Sabha polls.
“The BJP is in power and if they had learnt about bogus voting they can lodge complaints before the returning officers of Rohtak and Sirsa. They got input that Congress will win both seats with a bumper margin and Khattar is now making such remarks just to cover up their loss. The BJP is targeting government employees to run away from their failure,” she added.
Jannayak Janata Party’s student wing INSO’s national chief Pradeep Deswal said that the former chief minister has no right to target the government employees.
“Instead of making such comments, the BJP leaders should file complaints and give evidence to EC officials,” he said.
