India
BJP demands polling in Rajarajeshwarinagar segment be countermanded
The detection of 9,896 electors photo identity cards (EPICs) in an apartment in Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituency has triggered a political slugfest between the governing Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, with both the parties accusing each other of indulging in election malpractice.
Both the parties have petitioned the Election Commission in New Delhi.
Union HRD Minister and BJP State election in charge Prakash Javadekar told reporters on Wednesday that the episode was a clear indication that polling may not be held in a free and fair manner in the constituency. He demanded that polling be countermanded in the constituency.
Maintaining that it was the BJP that had “exposed” the incident, he took exception to the Congress putting the BJP in the place of the accused.
Claiming that Manjula Nanjamari, who owned the apartment where the EPICs were found, had nothing to do with the BJP, he urged the authorities concerned to arrest her and conduct an impartial probe. Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda alleged that MLA for Rajarajeshwarinagar and Congress leader Munirathna was behind the episode.
On the other hand, the Congress petitioned the Election Commission, demanding action against the BJP over the recovery of EPICs.
At a press conference here, Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Priyanka Chaturvedi alleged that the BJP enacted the “midnight drama” as it was facing an “imminent defeat” in Karnataka, and alleged that the saffron party had been using huge amounts of cash to influence voters of the State.
The BJP enacted this drama in an apartment belonging to their own leader Ms. Nanjamari, he alleged. “She has rented out the apartment to her adopted son Rakesh who contested the 2015 elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike council on a BJP ticket,” Mr. Surjewala alleged.
“No wonder that campaign material of the Congress candidate, with a view to falsely connect him to apartment number 115, was planted. Union Ministers Mr. Javadekar and Ananth Kumar and other BJP leaders are behind the “racket”, which has exposed the BJP’s factory of lies,” he alleged.
