The Election Commission on Thursday faced an all round attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party as its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi took on the poll panel by calling it "biased" and senior leaders and party workers launched a protest in Varanasi.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley with party leaders Amit Shah and Laxmikant Bajpai addresses a press conference in Varanasi. (PTI photo)
Top BJP leaders, including Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah, held protests in the temple town against the EC and the Varanasi returning officer over their denial to allow Modi to hold a public meetings at venues of his choice.
Read: BJP denied permission for Modi rally in Varanasi; party leaders to sit on dharna today
The saffron party's massive sit-in protest outside the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was called off later.
"Shouldn't elections be fair? The EC has become biased over last three elections. I say it is no longer unbiased," the Gujarat chief minister said while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh.
He added that the episode won't affect his fortunes or the results of the Lok Sabha elections.
"Those who do hisaab-kitab in Delhi on how many seats will be won will be proven wrong by voters."
Modi will later land on BHU's helipad and address a rally on the outskirts of Varanasi before driving through the city to his party's headquarters in a roadshow.
Along with Shah, Ananth Kumar and state party chief Laxmikant Bajpai, Jaitley sat on dharna at the gate of the BHU attacking the alleged partisan attitude of Pranjal Yadav, serving as returning officer for Lok Sabha polls scheduled for May 12, and demanded his removal.
Chaos prevailed in the area as a huge crowd of party supporters gathered there adding to the mess contributed by the presence of a hospital and a market. The dharna ended shortly after 2pm following which the BJP leaders and workers made preparations for heading to Rohania (on the outskirts of the city) where Modi is scheduled to address a rally.
Even before the top BJP leaders arrived for dharna, party workers and local leaders had begun protesting since early morning, disrupting traffic.
Read: BJP workers protest in Varanasi over EC decision
They also burned an effigy of the DM and demanded his removal.
Rapid Action Force and police personnel have been deployed in large numbers at the protest venue, while media was also present in large numbers.
The protestors shouted slogans for removal of Yadav, who is also the district magistrate of the temple town.
Modi was denied permission on Wednesday for holding a public meeting at a venue of its choice following which the party announced protests while cancelling all his programmes scheduled for Thursday.
The party demanded immediate removal of Yadav, who late on Wednesday night gave his nod for four of the five events for which BJP had sought permission.
The party, however, had rejected the gesture saying it came too late in the day.
As per schedule, Modi will arrive at thhe BHU helipad in a helicopter before proceeding towards the party's central election office.
Earlier in the day, Jaitley once again criticised the poll panel over its denial of permission to Modi's rally in Varanasi by raking up Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's road show in Varanasi.
Read: Jaitley hits out at EC again; calls it timid
The BJP had accused the EC on Wednesday of being a "mute spectator" to Yadav's "highly partisan" role in denying permission for the rally and demanded his immediate removal.
"By condoning the Returning Officer’s stand on ‘No-Modi rally’ in Varanasi city the Election Commission has used the security card to prevent Narendra Modi’s right to campaign in his constituency," Jaitley wrote on Thursday.
"Rahul Gandhi can have a road show in Varanasi but Narendra Modi cannot have a rally. The security card is selectively used," he added.
Modi too tweeted on Thursday, "It is unfortunate that EC is not concerned about the institution's neutrality & that is why our Karyakartas have to embark on a Satyagraha."
He also appealed to his party workers to maintain peace so that people do not face any difficulty.
"My profound apologies to Ganga Maa for not being able to perform Aarti today. Wish these people know that a Mother's love is above politics," Modi wrote.
Jaitley had announced on Wednesday he and other senior leaders would sit on a dharna outside the Banaras Hindu University at 11am on Thursday in protest.
In a letter to Jaitley on Wednesday, the EC said the protests were announced despite the poll body trying to resolve the matter "in accordance with law and the ground situation".
"In the whole matter, the Commission decided not to go by the version conveyed by the district magistrate alone, but consulted the UP chief secretary and the DGP, who endorsed the security and suitability aspects including capacity of the ground, raised by the district officials.
"You will appreciate that the Commission cannot overlook the security concerns expressed by competent authorities," the letter said.
In his blog, Jaitley asked the panel to "provide a level playing field".
Despite EC's letter to Jaitley over he pointed out to the "falsehood of the returning officer".
"If the Election Commission chooses to believe such a Returning Officer and feels that this is not a denial of opportunity to campaign, my right to Satyragrah begins. The Election Commission now condones the guilt of the Returning Officer," he said.
Jaitley accused the returning officer as well as officials of the Uttar Pradesh government of being "nominees of the people who want to prevent Modi".
Modi is contesting from the Beniyabagh seat, which goes to polls on May 12.
(With PTI inputs)
Read: Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Varanasi, hold roadshow on May 10
Full coverage: My India My Vote
No comments:
Post a Comment