‘Poll body a silent spectator to BJP's excesses’
New Delhi, April 28
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday accused the Election Commission of being a "silent spectator" to the "excesses" of the BJP and to the utterances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the poll body has "largely failed" the people of India.
The former Union Finance and Union Home Minister also said the plank of nationalism, propagated by the BJP, is a ploy to hide the "failures" of the NDA government.
“According to me, the Election Commission has largely failed the people of India. It has been a silent spectator to the excesses of the BJP, Modi's utterances and the enormous amount of money that has been spent by the BJP," he said in an interview.
Recently, the Opposition has complained to the EC alleging that the PM had "brazenly" violated the poll code by invoking the armed forces repeatedly during his poll rallies and demanded that a campaign ban be imposed on him for some time.
The Congress has said it has given 37 representations to the EC of which 10 could be categorised under "hate speeches, virulent, divisive, polarising" by Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
In the interview, Chidambaram answered questions ranging from the possibility of UPA-III coming to power after the Lok Sabha poll, besides other issues.
Chidambaram claimed that the EC has been asking for the accounts of every Opposition candidate and even on their small spendings like on a flag.
"They (EC) are adding what it is called notional expenditure to the expenditure account of the candidates. If you apply the same standard, every BJP candidate will be disqualified," he said.
Asked about the prospects of the formation of the UPA-III government by the Opposition after the General Election, the Congress leader said he was absolutely confident that the BJP would not be able to retain power.
"The government will be a non-BJP government. Obviously, Congress plus pre-election allies will play a big part. If there are more post-election allies, then I think the UPA-III has a very good chance," he said. - PTI
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2XX9RJt
via Today’s News Headlines
No comments: