The Jharkhand BJP unit has approached the state Chief Electoral Officer over allegations that Congress pamphlets ‘seeking personal details of voters under the guise of promoting the party’s flagship Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme’ violated the Model Code of Conduct, The Indian Express has reported.
The pamphlets distributed allegedly sought personal voter details like name, address, mobile number, along with specifics of the their polling booth, along with bearing the name of the Khunti District Congress Committee.
The state Congress spokesperson responded to the allegations by claiming that a ‘survey’ was being conducted that pre-dated the election announcement. He also said that PM Mod’s ‘unkept’ promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in people’s accounts before the 2014 elections also constituted a ‘poll code violation’.
“We have been doing it since long and Rahul Gandhi has individually written letters to prospective beneficiaries. Those pamphlets are being distributed in various constituencies. If the BJP thinks this is a poll code violation, then they should answer on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s addresses before the 2014 election in which he promised to put Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts, won on this plank, but failed to fulfil the promise. By their logic, that too was a poll code violation”Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Rajesh Thakur to IE
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo called the issue an ‘open and shut’ case of violation as the scheme has not been launched by the Congress as of yet. He also called the seeking of classified voter details ‘not permissible’.
“Without the EC’s go ahead, asking to fill this kind of form is a violation of Model Code of Conduct as well as of Representation of People’s Act,” claimed the state BJP demanding an FIR be registered in the matter, reported IE.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)