Opp charges BJP with using money, muscle
RANCHI | Thursday, February 10, 2011
VIJAY DEO JHA | RANCHI

The Election Commission office on Wednesday was deluged with complaints from Congress-JVM combine, alleging that Chief Minister and BJP candidate Arjun Munda was deploying the dirty tricks department to win Kharsawan Assembly bypoll.

Wednesday evening a delegation of Opposition MLAs, led by Congress spokesperson Radhakrishna Kishore; met Assistant Electoral Officer, Anjani Kumar Mishra, and handed over a list of complaints over the misuse of money and muscle by Munda’s men.

Opposition blamed the Commission for failing to assure free and fair election and announced ‘to sit on demonstration’ in front of the Commission’s office on election day (Thursday), to lodge their protest.

Mishra assured them to look into the matter and said that the election will be conducted free and fair.

The BJP chucked the allegation in the bin as “false and fabricated,” and rubbed salt in Opposition’s wound. “They have conceded defeat before the election as the public mandate is on the side of Mundaji,” State BJP spokesperson Pradeep Sinha said.

He rejected the charges as baseless and defended the Commission as a sacred and vigilant institution committed to conduct free and fair election.

Kishore at a Press conference listed the complaints that read like a chargesheet. “The BJP has deployed criminals to win this election. Voters are either terrorised or beseeched to vote for Munda which is well in the knowledge of the local administration,” Kishore said.

“The sorry part it seems is that Commission’s writ runs no more in Kharsawan. We have made at least a dozen complaints to the Commission about the incidences where the Opposition leaders and workers were threatened and harassed,” he said.

In one of the cases of political clash the Kharsawan BJP leader Sadhu Charan Mahato is alleged to have thrashed one Lal Babu Sardar, a JVM worker at Gamharia block under Ranamati village on Thursday.

Kishore went on to say: “People like Sadhu are taking law in their hands because administration has closed its eyes.” Yesterday he had manhandled party’s Gamhariya block president, Lakshman Mahato, and one Sushen Mahato for canvassing in favour of the JVM candidate Dashrath Gagrai aka Krishna Gagrai.

The JVM released its fury and complaints against the BJP and Munda. These are yet to be confirmed as no official was ready to speak.

Charge number one: On Wednesday, JVM’s election in-charge Ramesh Rahi claimed, security forces detained four Scorpio vehicles and seized five rifles at Sinni More in Kharsawan. They were released later and the matter was hushed-up, he alleged.

Charge number two: Two trucks laden with rice were detained in Khutpani block. These were meant to be distributed among people by the BJP, he charged.

Charge number three: Munda’s brother-in-law Suvash has been trying to influence the voters with wads of currency in the area around Dalbhanga, Selahatu and Giluwa in Kharsawan.

Charge number four: State’s Excise Minister Raja Peter has been camping in Kharsawan and using his official position which is against the Election code.

Charge number five: Criminal elements supporting BJP given free hand by the administration.

Back in Ranchi, the day witnessed charges and countercharges, while it was all about political manoeuvering in Kharsawan. It is over to Kharsawan where battle lines are drawn.