Tejashwi's call for boycotting Bihar polls finds resonance, lawmakers train guns at ECI

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav's call for boycotting Bihar elections, on back of Election Commission of India's "skewed" voter verification drive has found resonance among the Parliamentarians, as MPs of different parties extended their support to him and criticised the poll panel, accusing it of working for the ruling party.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Wednesday, said that if ECI continues to ride roughshod over Opposition's concerns, his party as well as the INDIA bloc may even choose to opt out of the electoral race.

"Boycott is an option, but we will think about it. We will consult our alliance partners and the public before taking a final call," Tejashwi told IANS.

Many lawmakers from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Shiv Sena and Congress supported his outburst against the ECI and slammed the poll panel, accusing it of manipulating the voters' list ahead of elections.

SP MP Awadesh Prasad said that the right to vote was given by the architect of the Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and if any attempt is made to disenfranchise a section of voters, it will be strongly repulsed.

"The ongoing elections in Bihar reflect BJP's intent to dismantle democracy in the country. They are attempting to suppress the votes of the electorate, which is completely wrong. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar gave every citizen the right to vote, and any attempt to attack this right will be strongly opposed," the SP MP said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the EC, on account of cleaning up the voters list and showing the door to illegal immigrants, is "robbing" the rights of valid voters.

"If the democratic process itself is not functioning properly, then what is the point of participating in such a one-sided election? He (Tejashwi Yadav) expressed his views strongly, saying that it is the responsibility of all of us to uphold the expectations that democracy has from us, that the people of the country have from us, and that the people of Bihar are hoping for, and the expectations must be fulfilled," she said.

Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka said, "He (Tejashwi) is expressing his pain and anguish. We had requested the Election Commission to provide us voters' list of Maharashtra and Jharkhand in a readable format, but it was not made available. When it came to video recording, we made a request for that too, but they changed the rules. In Bihar, they are implementing SIR, which will deprive over 52 lakh voters of their right to vote. This is completely wrong."

Meanwhile, RJD MLA Shamim Ahmad told the media that the party firmly stands behind their leader.

--IANS

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