Patiala, Dec 14: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said the Congress government had forced democratic emergency upon the state. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and in-charge of Punjab affairs Prabhat Jha said they were again approaching the Election Commission for deputing paramilitary forces in Punjab for the conduct of civic polls.
Interacting with newspersons at the office of former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, Jha said they would ask the commission to ensure fair and free polls in the state.
Comparing the prevalent situation in Punjab with that of emergency imposed in July 1975 by the Indira Gandhi, Jha said nomination papers of the opposition parties had been rejected unconstitutionally at the behest of the Congress government and they were fearing that police and other government machinery would be exploited by the Captain government in an effort to win the polls.
Contrary to the claims being made Jha, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had recently claimed that all their demands for holding of the civic polls in a democratic manner had been accepted after they held statewide protests.
He alleged that in complete mockery of the democratic system, the Congress had made elaborate arrangements to hijack the municipal corporation elections. He said the those contesting elections on the tickets of the rival parties were being threatened and the police were acting like a mute spectator. He also expressed apprehensions that there would be violence and poll rigging during voting on December 17.
Source Times of India
