Election Commission, UP police raid BJP office in Varanasi before elections

Lucknow: On the eve of Varanasi going to polls, election officials and the local police conducted a search at the BJP’s office there on Sunday. A senior official said they had information that BJP workers had planned to distribute badges, pamphlets and Modi T-shirts after the campaign’s close, which is illegal.

The official said that the action was taken to seize campaign material as it had got information of such items being sent in large quantities from the BJP office in Sigra.
The seized items included T-shirts, pamphlets and badges, the officials said.

Uttar Pradesh police and election commission officials seized campaign material after a raid was conducted at BJP's regional office in Varanasi on Sunday (Photo: PTI)

District magistrate Pranjal Yadav and special observer Pravin Kumar told reporters later on Sunday that the Election Commission had decided to “close” the case as the material had not actually been distributed or used in campaigning. These items were not being distributed to prospective voters, the officials said.

BJP leaders, however, said that these were unused campaign material and the party was not indulging in any campaign activity. They added that the unused products were being returned to their respective manufacturers.

BJP leaders later alleged that this incident further proved that the administration and election authorities were biased against the BJP, and said that the raid was linked to the denial of permission to Narendra Modi’s May 8 rally.