Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday lashed out at the BJP and the Election Commission, alleging large-scale voter irregularities in several states, including West Bengal, Bihar, and Haryana. Speaking at a press conference, Sibal claimed that the BJP was not self-reliant in elections and needed the support of the Election Commission to win.
"This means that the BJP is also not 'atmanirbhar' in elections. It is only 'atmanirbhar' when the EC is supporting it - that is why Home Minister Amit Shah says I will spend 15 days in West Bengal because they are not 'atmanirbhar'. So, they have to seek help, and whose help they have to seek, we know that, you know that, the people of the country know that, and the government also knows that, but they don't speak out, and the CEC is fully supportive." Sibal said.
"If you remember we had made allegations to the effect that in Maharashtra 40 lakh voters were added and 5 lakh voters in Delhi were added. These issues were raised by several political parties but after the polls," Kapil Sibal said, adding "Luckily in West Bengal, things have come to light before the polls," He added.
Sibal cited the example of five voters who were registered in both Bihar and West Bengal, alleging that this was just the tip of the iceberg. "We have the instance of at least five people who are voters in Bihar and are registered both in Bihar and West Bengal. These five have been caught; there would be thousands like this," he said, displaying the details and Epic numbers of the five voters.
The Congress leader also questioned the Election Commission's role in allowing such irregularities to take place. "Hundreds of thousands of people have registered voters in their homes. The houses are small, but there are many voters. Hundreds of voters are registered in a two-room house. This happened in Haryana. This happens everywhere, and will happen everywhere because only then will the BJP remain self-reliant," he alleged.
His remarks come after Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday announced that he will continue to stay in West Bengal for the next fifteen days for campaigning and preparing his party for the two-phase assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 23 and 29. "I will stay in Bengal for 15 days for the elections. I will have many opportunities to talk with you all. But today I am here for the nomination filing of our four leaders," Amit Shah said while addressing a rally in Bhabanipur, which is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's constituency.
His remarks come as the assembly elections for 4 states and 1 Union Territory are set to commence from April 9. Polling in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be held on April 9 in a single phase. While in West Bengal, the first phase of voting is scheduled for April 23, followed by the second phase on April 29. Tamil Nadu will hold its elections on April 23 in a single phase. Counting of votes for all five states and UTs is scheduled for May 4.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
