The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday hit out at the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accusing the former of questioning the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) after electoral defeats and the latter of undermining democratic processes in Punjab through alleged intimidation and irregularities during local body elections.
Leading the party’s “Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy” march in Patiala, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon alleged that the Congress was adopting double standards by accepting the electoral process when it won but raising allegations of EVM manipulation and vote theft whenever it suffered a defeat.
The march was attended by BJP national secretary and Punjab in-charge Dr Satish Poonia, Rajya Sabha MP and co-in-charge Alka Gurjar, former state BJP president Sunil Jakhar, former Lok Sabha MP Preneet Kaur and other senior party leaders.
Citing Congress’s defeats in Legislative Council elections in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, Dhillon said these elections were conducted through ballot papers. He challenged the Congress to explain its electoral losses in these states when EVMs were not involved. He also pointed out that Karnataka had a Congress government.
On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Dhillon defended the Election Commission’s exercise, saying it was intended to identify duplicate entries, deceased voters and people who could not be traced at their registered addresses. He accused the Congress and other opposition parties of politicising the exercise to target the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
{{/usCountry}}On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Dhillon defended the Election Commission’s exercise, saying it was intended to identify duplicate entries, deceased voters and people who could not be traced at their registered addresses. He accused the Congress and other opposition parties of politicising the exercise to target the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
{{/usCountry}}Jakhar targets Bhagwant Mann
Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar launched a personal attack on chief minister Bhagwant Mann, calling him a “stigma on Punjab”.
He alleged that Mann had surrendered the dignity of his office and that key decisions concerning the state were being taken by AAP leaders in Delhi, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.
Preneet Kaur also criticised opposition parties for questioning the SIR exercise, alleging that they were attempting to undermine the credibility of constitutional institutions because they could not politically challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi.