Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday, saying that over 24 of its state and union ministers were engaged in campaigning for Ghosi assembly by-poll, misusing government vehicles and machinery and pressurising the voters to vote in favour of the BJP.
“All this is a clear violation of model code of conduct (MCC)”, said a delegation led by SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary when it met the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) on Friday.
The delegation gave a memorandum to the CEO and demanded free and fair polls.
The memorandum said that the BJP leaders were summoning ration dealers, government contractors and traders and pressing them to work to compel the voters to vote in favour of the ruling party’s candidate.
The memorandum also said that the engineers and officers of the electricity department were going to the houses of the voters who supported the SP and trying to terrorise them in the name of electricity connection checking. “Thus, it is very important to check the functioning of the BJP ministers, leaders, police administration and power department’s engineers and implement the MCC in letter and spirit for free, fair, and fearless by-poll”, said the memorandum.
The statement issued by Rajendra Chaudhary after the meeting said that the delegation also told the UP CEO that in minority-dominated areas, the police were impounding two-wheelers, cars or tractors parked outside residents’ houses and taking them away to police stations. “This is being done to intimidate the minority voters so that they do not vote on the voting day”, said Chaudhary in the statement.
{{/usCountry}}The statement issued by Rajendra Chaudhary after the meeting said that the delegation also told the UP CEO that in minority-dominated areas, the police were impounding two-wheelers, cars or tractors parked outside residents’ houses and taking them away to police stations. “This is being done to intimidate the minority voters so that they do not vote on the voting day”, said Chaudhary in the statement.
{{/usCountry}}No Muslims, Yadavs on duty: SP
SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary in the statement said that among the 15 police sub-inspectors, 83 head constables and 50 women inspectors deployed in Ghosi by-poll area from September 2 till the end of the polls, none was Yadav and Muslim. This list of deployment was made at the indication of the ministers as part of the conspiracy to reduce the voters’ turnout. The BJP’s functioning was influencing the by-poll, he said.