The BJP on Monday accused the INDIA bloc of “threatening” officials on SIR duty and “sidelining” the spirit of the Constitution. Addressing media persons, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said efforts were being made to conduct elections in an independent, impartial, and transparent manner, but “several states governed by the INDIA bloc were engaged in condemnable attempts and harmful attacks against this process”.
Trivedi alleged that Jharkhand minister Irfan Ansari had openly stated that if any booth-level officer from the Election Commission came merely to collect information, “he should be taken hostage.” He questioned whether such statements did not put the Constitution at risk, adding that “wherever the INDIA alliance comes to power, the spirit of the Constitution is sidelined.”
According to Trivedi, an even “more serious and dangerous situation” was unfolding in West Bengal. “There, a TMC block-level agent was accused of directly threatening BLOs over the phone. We want to ask: why is such a situation arising? Is it not happening because the Leader of the Opposition at the Centre himself makes baseless and unfounded allegations regarding the revision of the electoral roll, and the Chief Minister of West Bengal makes indirect statements that provoke people?”
“Both of these individuals hold Constitutional positions. This clearly shows that if there is any major obstacle to allowing the Constitutional system and the electoral process to remain transparent, it is the parties of the INDIA bloc,” he said.