New Delhi, May 8 (Reuters): Opposition leader Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on the Election Commission Of India on Thursday, accusing it of discrimination in barring him from holding rallies to back his candidacy in the holy city of Varanasi.
Veranasi goes to the polls on Monday, the final day of India’s mammoth general election. Results are due next Friday. “With full responsibility, I’m accusing India’s election commission of discrimination,” Modi told supporters at another rally in the electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh, where one in every six voters lives.
The independent monitoring agency is widely credited for ensuring free and fair elections in India, in which 815 million voters have been called to the polls over five weeks. The election commission’s head, V.S. Sampath, rejected Modi’s allegation, saying it was determined to act impartially and was not afraid of any political party.
Certain parties were making “harsh and sweeping allegations” against the agency, Sampath said in a rare televised news conference. Polls show Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning the most seats in the election, although it may need to recruit allies to secure a parliamentary majority.
The party has grown increasingly critical of the election commission as campaign efforts are funnelled into the seats still up for grabs, accusing it of being partial and not deploying enough central security forces at polling booths. On Thursday, BJP leaders wearing orange caps emblazoned with “Modi for PM” logos held protests both in Varanasi and the capital New Delhi, alleging that the agency was blocking Modi from campaigning in Varanasi.
The commission said that officials and police had raised security concerns regarding Modi’s rally which it could not ignore. It had granted permission for an alternative location, the agency said. Candidates from both the BJP and the Congress party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, have been rapped on the knuckles for campaign infractions in the run-up to elections.
More recently, police have opened an investigation against Modi after he flashed his party’s symbol and made a speech on April 30 after casting his vote in Vadodara, in Gujarat, in violation of election rules. Modi is running in two constituencies, as election rules allow, and would resign one if elected in both.
“The overall job done by the election commission has been a tremendous job, a splendid job,” said P. Chidambaram, finance minister and a senior leader of Congress. He blamed the stand-off between the election commission and the BJP on the rival party “getting a bit desperate”.
EC rejects BJP’s charge of bias, says not afraid of anyone
NEW DELHI, May 8 (PTI): Unfazed by BJP’s all-out attack, the Election Commission on Thursday rejected its accusations of bias in denying permission to Narendra Modi’s rally in Varanasi and made it clear that it was “not afraid of anyone, any political party or any entity” in doing its job.
At a hurriedly-called press conference here, chief election commissioner V S Sampath strongly defended the action of Varanasi returning officer Pranjal Yadav, saying his decision was based on “professional advice” and ruled out his removal as demanded by the BJP.
Flanked by other two Election Commissioners, Sampath expressed disappointment over BJP’s attack, saying “certain harsh and sweeping statements” were made and political parties to “show greater maturity”.
Sampath said the returning office, who is the district magistrate of Varanasi, had denied permission to the rally proposed to be held today on the “basis of professional advice” and there was no need for the EC to “deviate” from it.
“When the security and suitability issues are involved, the Election Commission naturally will go by the professional advice taken at the district level,” the CEC said responding to attacks by BJP.
“The competent local authority, the DM and his team, took the decision taking into consideration relevant professional advice on security,” he said.
“There is no reason to deviate from the decision taken at the district level, specially when the issue of life and security are concerned,” Sampath said. He asserted that the Commission is “not afraid of anyone, any political party or any entity in discharging its duties”.
International media descends at Varanasi for Modi vs Kejriwal battle
VARANASI, May 8 (PTI): As the election juggernaut rolls on, the international media has descended in large numbers on this temple town to cover the most high-profile battle involving Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, both of whom figure in a recent Time magazine list of the world’s 100 most influential people.
For many in the foreign media, the fight between AAP leader Kejriwal and BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Modi is a battle of “ideas” which has more resonance for the global audience than any other constituency, including Amethi and Rae Bareli. South Asia Bureau chief of AFP, Chris Otton, said the Varanasi contest was the “most fascinating” of this Lok Sabha elections for the foreign media as it features the two most talked-about Indian politicians of their time.
“It’s not often that you have two candidates who have just been chosen by Time magazine in their list of the world’s 100 most influential people slugging it out for the same seat,” said Otton, who has been covering high-pitch campaigning here for past few days.
Kejriwal was ahead of Modi in the Time magazine’s readers’ poll two weeks back of the most influential people in the world. Otton said though there was a “dip” in foreign interest in the Indian elections due to “length of the whole process”, the interest has now gathered momentum ahead of the “grand finale” in Varanasi.
Nilanjana Bhowmick, Time magazine’s South Asia correspondent, thinks the fight here has symbolised the “sentient centre” of the Indian elections. “On one hand there is the formidable Modi, whose win most thought was pretty much assured, whom a neophyte like Kejriwal has dared to take on. It’s a political battle no doubt, but it is a battle of ideas too, and a pointer to the future trajectory of India,” she said.
Though Congress has fielded Ajay Rai, a Varanasi local and the MLA from Pindra assembly constituency, most of the foreign correspondents say the main fight will be between Modi and Kejriwal who have been running a high-pitched campaign for the May 12 election. Describing Modi as the “greatest showman” in Indian politics, Bhowmick said he knows how to woo people.
“Modi, of course, has a huge fan following. He is an articulate man, an astute politician and a great rabble rouser. He knows how to reach out to people with his ideas,” she said. Commenting on Modi’s roadshow of April 24, Bhowmick said one wouldn’t have expected “any less” from the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee.
The Independent’s Asia correspondent, Andrew Buncombe, felt the international media has been giving a lot of attention to the “story” because Modi has decided to contest from Varanasi. “The entry of Mr Kejriwal into the contest has added to the sense of drama. And, of course, Varanasi is famous around the world. It’s one of India’s most celebrated and historic cities,” he said.
Giving reasons for global media’s interest in Varanasi, Otton said it is one of India’s best-known cities internationally and the fight here has certainly more resonance for a foreign audience. He said the number of people in Modi’s roadshow before filing of nomination was “pretty striking” although that may say as much about the BJP’s organisational abilities as support for him in the city.
“I imagine quite a few of those who watched the roadshow from their balconies or shop-fronts were just interested in the spectacle rather than die-hard BJP supporters. Mind you, the sheer size of almost every aspect of India’s elections is a bit of an eye-opener for outsiders,” he said. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had won the seat after defeating Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently in jail in a murder case, by a margin of 17,000 votes.
