The State unit of BJP on Thursday sought immediate intervention of the Election Commission of India to disengage the controversial Bharat Nirmal Volunteers (BNV) from the ongoing election process for ensuring free and fair election in Odisha and also take steps to stop distribution of State Government’s achievement cards by the BNVs to the beneficiaries of subsidised rice and old age pension scheme.
The BJP in its second letter to Chief Election Commission of India on March 20 urged the election panel to withdraw the letters given by the office of Chief Electoral Officer to all District Election Officers to utilize BNVs for the election awareness programme. Dubbing the deployment as “unconstitutional”, the BJP alleged that the BNVs were being used by the State Government to launch political campaign by passing all democratic norms to further the electoral prospects of the ruling party.
Addressing a Press conference here, BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said that in the name of creating electoral awareness and increasing the participation of voters in the elections, some officers in the Odisha Chief Electoral Office here were using the BNVs for political campaigning of the ruling party. The Naveen Patnaik Government has resorted to a hidden agenda through the official route to cling to power throwing all electoral and constitutional norms to winds, he alleged. Some officials in the office of CEO have joined hands to help the ruling party to further their electoral gains by illegally influencing the voters, he alleged.
He said the post of BNVs was created to educate the people about various welfare programmes launched by the Government. Nowhere was it mentioned that the BNVs would be used in the election process.
Some officers were conspiring to help the ruling BJD to win the coming elections by misinterpreting the guidelines, Sharma said, and alleged that an officer of the CEO Naba Kumar Nayak has written to all District Election Officers to utilise the BNVs for this ‘unconstitutional’ work. The number of BNVs which was only five thousand in January last had increased to 62,000 by the end of February last, he said.
Sharma also alleged that BNVs were distributing a booklet ‘Aina’ published by the State Information and Public Relations department highlighting the achievement of the Government to the beneficiaries of various Government schemes violating the model code of conduct to influence the voters. Alleging that ‘Aaina’ is being distributed to the voters along with subsidised rice and old age pension, Sharma gave specific instances of such illegalities. He demanded the Election Commission to seize the books and remove the officers engaged in such work, seize the booklets and disengage the BNVs.
BJP State election office in- charge Surendra lath said party Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi on March 29 would interact with the youths in 68 places of the State simultaneously as part of the ‘chai pe charcha’ programme, he said. He said that Modi also discussed the problem of the farmers at the OUAT in ‘chai pe charcha’ programme on Thursday.