Shiv Sena UBT claims BJP, alliance partners bribed voters

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) has accused the BJP of giving bribes to voters to win the Lok Sabha election. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said the BJP has adopted a dangerous practice that will undermine democracy.

An editorial published in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Tuesday said that the voters are supreme and efforts are being made to buy them till the end of the election. “The BJP and its bogus companies (read Ajit Pawar led NCP and Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena) have spent Rs 100 crore each in every Lok Sabha seat. The same tricks were used in Baramati earlier. This method of winning elections by bribing people is dangerous for the country. It is being said that even the servants of Ajit Pawar’s house in Baramati were given money to cast their votes. If this is the situation, then why should we keep chanting the mantra of democracy and freedom?” the editorial asked.

The Sena (UBT) also claimed that the Modi era has proved to be the most ominous period for democracy in India. “Modi and his men have once again shown that democracy, elections and victory can be bought with the power of money. The fundamental freedoms of the people like freedom to think, freedom to choose, freedom to speak and unity cannot be taken away by a majority in the Parliament,” the editorial said.

Claiming that the last 10 years have seen the downfall of democracy and the constitution, the Shiv Sena (UBT) alleged that the Prime Minister has become a dictator. “Dictatorship thrives on restrictions on ideas and centralization of power,” it said.

The Sena (UBT) said that the BJP and Modi generally get 43 percent of the vote shares from the country in which Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat are the biggest contributors. “There are many states, which have rejected Modi. How appropriate would it be to assume that 43 percent of voters mean the entire country?” the editorial said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has filed a complaint against Uddhav Thackeray for the alleged breach of Model Code of Conduct on the voting day of the fifth phase. The BJP said Thackeray breached the election code by holding a press conference even as voting for the fifth phase was underway for 13 seats in Maharashtra. In his complaint to the ECI, BJP leader Ashish Shelar also accused Thackeray of trying to influence the election process by pressurising the election body with baseless accusations.

Thackeray held a press conference at 5 pm on Monday. He alleged that the ECI was deliberately slowing down the voting process at the behest of the BJP. He claimed that many voters returned without casting their votes because of the delay and long queues.

“Thackeray made baseless allegations against Modi and tried to mislead the electorate into believing that the government or the ruling party was influencing the ECI. Such statements are blatantly false, mischievous and defamatory in nature,” Shelar said.