“BJP has disgraced democracy, doesn’t follow any rules of EC”: Samajwadi Party leader on UP by-polls

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 21 (ANI): The BJP and the Samajwadi Party have been making allegations against each other over the Uttar Pradesh by-polls, and on Thursday SP leader Fakhrul Hasan Chand said that the BJP has disgraced democracy and it does not follow any rules of the Election Commission.

Speaking to ANI, Chand said there are visuals of the administration checking voters’ ID cards.

“The way BJP contested the by-polls using ‘Lathi’, guns, it is not hidden from anyone. Many questions have been raised about the elections held in Uttar Pradesh under this democracy. The Election Commission should take this into consideration. The BJP has disgraced democracy. It does not follow any rules of the Election Commission. The way the administration checked voters’ ID cards, there are visuals of that,” he said.

“After the Samajwadi Party’s complaint, the Election Commission took action against seven police personnel. If our complaints were false, why would the Commission take action? This proves that the BJP was misusing the administration,” he added.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday demanded that the Election Commission (EC) suspend the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kakrouli police station, located in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerapur and accused him of threatening voters and stopping them from casting their vote.

“The Election Commission should immediately suspend SHO of Kakrouli police station area of Meerapur because he is stopping voters from casting their votes by threatening them with a revolver,” the SP chief said sharing a video on X.

On Wednesday, the day of polling, the Samajwadi Party alleged that the police have affected voting in all the nine seats in Uttar Pradesh where by-polls are underway, while the BJP wrote a letter to the Election Commission complaining about “fake voting” specifically in Kundarki and Sisamau seats.

“At booth number 357,422 in Kundarki assembly constituency of Moradabad, police are harassing voters and affecting voting. Election Commission should take cognizance, fair voting should be ensured,” the party alleged on X.

On the other hand, the Uttar Pradesh BJP wrote a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer alleging that fake ID cards are being provided to the people who came from outside to cast their vote.

Amid allegations by various political parties of police affecting voting in Uttar Pradesh by-polls, the election commission suspended police personnel in Uttar Pradesh for violating guidelines during the bye-elections.

Moradabad SSP Satpal Antil stated that the police have cognizance of the complaints of voting irregularities and have deployed Gazetted officers to investigate the complaints. He also mentioned that the department has removed one sub-inspector and two constables from their duties to ensure the election is conducted fairly.

“Gazetted officers are being sent to the spot from where allegations have been made. For each allegation, an investigation is being done. We recently went to a nearby village and similar things came up there as well.

In that village, we have removed 1 sub-inspector and 2 constables from duty and it is being ensured that the election process is completely fair and a maximum number of people can participate in a free and fair manner,” he said.