Former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday accused the Congress of indulging in bogus voting at few places in the State during the Lok Sabha election on May 25.
Addressing a press conference here after his party’s review meeting a day earlier, Mr. Khattar alleged that the Congress workers at some places were found indulged in bogus voting, especially in the Rohtak and Sirsa Lok Sabha constituencies, and efforts were made to prevent it strictly. He said the authorities were informed “verbally”, but the time to challenge it had lapsed. “Bogus voting is something that needs to be dealt with at the spot. It can’t be identified later,” Mr. Khattar said.
He claimed that going by the feedback from his party leaders across the state and some independent observers the Bharatiya Janata Party would again clean sweep the Lok Sabha polls in the State and win the Karnal Assembly seat as well.
Mr. Khattar, who is the party’s Karnal Lok Sabha candidate, said the electorate had clarity about the leadership and composition of the National Democratic Alliance, but the parties in the rival INDIA bloc had failed to reach a consensus about their leader and were also contesting against each other in different States.
On the BJP candidates facing the farmers’ ire in Haryana, Mr. Khattar said the farming community had never been in agreement with the Congress’ policy as much as they did with the BJP’s policy. He said the people with the Leftist ideology always looking for an opportunity to raise a movement against the establishment had in the guise of farmers and Sikhs, mostly in the districts adjoining the Punjab, were behind these protests during the elections.
In reply to a question on inflation and unemployment, Mr. Khattar said that inflation was not an issue in the elections and the Haryana government in its ten-year tenure had given more government jobs than the previous Congress regime. He said the Dearness Allowance to the government employees had gone up to 125% in ten years till 2016, but it only hiked to 50% in the past eight years to prove that inflation during the NDA government was less.
He said State BJP government had the support of two Jannayak Janta Party MLAs, and was not in minority.
Haryana Congress Chief Whip Bharat Bhushan Batra took strong exception to Mr. Lal’s allegations saying the BJP intimidated voters, abused money power and resorted to administrative intervention in Rohtak during polls. He added that 600 complaints were made to the administration and election commission, but no action was taken. He accused Mr. Lal of telling lies to hide his frustration in the face of defeat.
