Accusing the ruling Congress party in the State of committing a “double murder of democracy and the people’s lives through illegally distributed illicit liquor in its campaign for the Shahkot by-election” the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday urged the Chief Election Commissioner of India to replace state police with paramilitary forces.
Besides, the party also demanded to deploy adequate number of teams of the Election Commission to monitor the situation and enforce the model code of conduct in the area.
“EC must step-in to stop not only the distribution of uncertified liquor, which has the potential of turning into a major hooch tragedy, but also must order an emergency time-bound probe into the possible link between this liquor and massive disaster caused recently by the shocking spill of lethal effluents by the Sugar Mill-cum-Wine Distillery owned by a bigwig of the ruling party,” said the party delegation, led by its senior vice president Daljeet Singh Cheema.
The party delegation on Thursday made an emergency visit to the state Chief Electoral Officer to draw his attention towards the “widespread electoral malpractices” adopted by the ‘desperate’ Congress party.
Cheema demanded that that “as an urgent and unavoidable first step”, the EC must order the replacement of the state police with paramilitary forces and deploy adequate number of teams of the EC to monitor the situation and enforce the model code of conduct in the area.
He also reiterated SAD’s demand that entire poll process, including developments in the next three pre-poll days must be videographed by the EC while submitting “irrefutable” evidence that the official machinery is not only being misused but being made to function in broad daylight as a political election agents law and the model code of conduct by the ruling party to save democracy.
“We have impressed upon the EC that its teams must videograph the entire polling process at every polling booth. The booths and complexes, within which these are located, must be covered by the video teams,” said Cheema while talking with the media later.
He said: “In addition, temporary CCTV cameras must be operationalised in complexes during the polling hours, including the period two hours before and after the actual process.”
Cheema said that the EC must take immediate and effective steps to dispel widespread impression that the EC is allowing a free run of the place to the hoodlums of the ruling party. “And importantly, these steps must be taken now before it is too late,” he said.
“The misuse of government machinery has crossed all limits. The leaders of the ruling Congress party, including the incumbent Ministers, are using all type of pressure tactics to threaten our supporters as well as voters of the constituency,” said Cheema adding that we fear that the movement our poll campaigners will move out of constituency after 5 pm on May 26, they will reign a wave of terror on our voters and supporters.
He alleged that the state police was neither capable nor willing to counter the ruling party leaders as well as Ministers.
“We also fear that the Congress leaders will not move out of constituency and will keep on threatening our voters and supporters,” he said adding that the only way to ensure free and fair environment is to deploy paramilitary forces and 100 percent video-graphy of all polling booths.