New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) The opposition has accepted defeat, claimed NDA leaders on Thursday, after the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav said his party was keeping open the option of boycotting the upcoming Bihar assembly polls in the wake of the controversy over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.
INDIA bloc leaders, on the other hand, claimed the Election Commission was “rushing” with the exercise, and it raises suspicion.
Responding to reporters’ queries outside the Bihar Assembly, Yadav asserted that the RJD was keeping the “option open” to boycott the polls.
“When the time comes, we will make a decision following a discussion with the alliance partners. What is happening in the name of special intensive revision (SIR) is nothing short of a fraud,” he said.
Asked to comment on the RJD leader’s remarks, Union Minister and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ said it means the opposition has conceded defeat.
“He is feeling that they will lose elections. Their forgery has been exposed and hence they are saying that they won’t contest (the polls),” he told reporters outside Parliament here.
BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy echoed the JD(U) leader’s sentiment and said, “There can only be two possibilities behind this. One is that Tejashwi Yadav has already accepted his defeat in Bihar, and he is looking for excuses to run away. The other is that he is doing some great politics, which I am unable to understand.” Union Minister S P Singh Baghel accused the opposition of “encouraging infiltrators to cast vote”.
“Rahul Gandhi and the entire INDI alliance are the only parties in the entire world who are encouraging infiltrators to cast votes. The Election Commission is only asking for documents to prove that you are a citizen of India. Around 5 lakh such people with no identification have been marked… They are a threat to internal security and communal harmony,” he said.
Congress leader K C Venugopal, meanwhile, backed Yadav and said the Election Commission’s way of conducting the exercise raises “suspicion”.
“He has made an observation… Because the way the Election Commission is doing all these things is completely suspicious,” he said.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji questioned why the poll panel was “rushing” with the exercise.
“It is very suspicious. An FIR was filed against a journalist. Many people from Bihar are in Maharashtra, Delhi, and Jharkhand. They have not informed everyone. Had they informed all, many people would have gone back,” Maji said. PTI AO NSD NSD
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