Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken serious exception to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) ‘inaction’ in the matter of pension disbursement and direct bank transfer of Rs 10,000 to women or other payments in Bihar.
“This is a kind of ‘vote chori’ and was one of the deciding factors in the outcome of the assembly polls there,” he remarked.
Speaking to the media at the Congress’s state headquarters here on Friday, Gehlot, a senior AICC observer for the Bihar polls, said, “At this juncture, I can only say that the disbursement of money played a vital role in the poll outcome. The release of Rs 10,000 to women, as well as pension and other grants, continued even a day before polling, and the ECI turned a blind eye to it.”
“It was the sheer use of money power that worked there. The ECI did not take action against it — this has never happened. The ECI should have intervened and stopped it. This is also a form of ‘vote chori’,” the senior Congress leader said.
“Two years ago, we were distributing mobile phones to women beneficiaries months ahead of the state Assembly polls — and that too under a scheme announced by our then government in the state budget nearly 9–10 months before the elections. However, the ECI acted immediately to stop the distribution of mobile phones and also directed our government to suspend payment of pensions to the elderly, women, and the specially abled for three months in view of the Model Code of Conduct,” he said.
“The Commission stopped an ongoing social empowerment initiative a couple of months ahead of the elections in Rajasthan. It did not take any action to stop the open and organised money transactions even a day before polling in Bihar. In this way, the Opposition’s votes were diverted — isn’t it a form of ‘vote chori’? This has affected the outcome of the election there,” Gehlot said.
“Then what is wrong with Rahul Gandhi ji’s ‘vote chori’ plank?” asserted the three-time former Chief Minister, who was also a star campaigner in the Bihar elections.
“Everywhere, including Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, ‘vote chori’ has been committed in one way or another, even through the use of money power,” he quipped.
About the Anta assembly by-poll in Rajasthan, Gehlot said, “The strong anti-incumbency against the two-year-old BJP government and the popularity of the well-deserving Congress nominee Pramod Jain Bhaya were the top factors in the grand old party’s win.