Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari alleged on Sunday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was exerting pressure on certain candidates in the Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat to withdraw from the poll race. However, the BJP has termed these allegations as baseless and stated that such statements were a cover-up for the internal disagreement of the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc.
Under the seat-sharing agreement among the I.N.D.I.A bloc members, the Congress has allocated the Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat to the Samajwadi Party (SP). However, the nomination form of SP candidate Meera Yadav was rejected by the Returning Officer on Friday due to an incomplete signature and submission of an old voters' list copy.
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Following the scrutiny, 14 candidates are in the race for this seat, including sitting MP and BJP state president VD Sharma.
Speaking to news agency PTI on Sunday, Patwari asserted that RB Prajapati, the candidate of the All India Forward Bloc and a former government official, informed him that he was facing pressure through various means to withdraw his nomination. Prajapati has complained about this with the Election Commission, Patwari said.
Congress Condemns BJP 'Tactics', BJP Dismisses 'Baseless Allegation'
The Congress leader criticised the BJP for using tactics typically associated with local elections in the country's largest electoral event.
"The district collector (returning officer) is acting like a BJP worker and invalidated the form of SP candidate and the issue will be fought legally...but the remaining candidates are being pressured. I got the information that some of them were abducted, some were forced to go underground, nobody can come to the public domain," Patwari stated.
"Does the (state) BJP president want to contest the election in Bihari style, I beg your pardon, like filmi style that (the candidates) are abducted, being purchase with money, threatened, tormented through the administration, or anyhow getting forms of all candidates cancelled and get elected (unopposed)?" he also said.
Additionally, Patwari questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi desired such a nation.
The Congress leader demanded the Election Commission of India to provide security to the candidates.
When questioned about the claims, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal stated that the I.N.D.I.A bloc's internal strife has been highlighted by the rejection of the SP candidate's nomination for the Khajuraho seat. "The internal strife and conspiracies of the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A bloc have come out in the open after the rejection of the SP candidate's nomination. To cover it up, they are making baseless allegations," he added.
Agrawal stated that since the BJP is already running in the election, there is no foundation for these accusations. "The BJP was winning elections earlier and will win now also," he further added.