After an election official checked the Chief Minister’s bag at a helipad on Friday, an angry Harish Rawat alleged on Saturday that the officials were doing nothing when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP’s national president Amit Shah were coming to the state with bagful of cash. “It shows that the officials are acting in a partisan manner which is unacceptable.” He further demanded the chief election commissioner to stop the practice of double standards and apply the same to the leaders of parties other than the Congress.
On Friday, when CM was supposed to fly for Nainital the squad of the election officials thoroughly searched his luggage, something that rarely happens in the state. Though CM did not stop them he asked them whether they were doing the same to the bags that PM Modi and BJP leader Shah were carrying with them while coming here for campaigning.
However, he vented his anger a day after the incident, saying that a battery of Union ministers coming and going from Delhi to Uttarakhand, the election officials should have shown the same smartness that they showed to him.
He alleged that they had been coming along with huge cash meant for their candidates. “I am convinced that that they are doing it with complicity of the election officials. It means that the BJP leaders and the Union ministers are enjoying extra privileges with their bags and vehicles being left untouched. This violates the norms laid down by the election commission that vows to provide a level playing field to everyone,” he said.
He further said that BJP leaders had spent over ` 2000 crore in this state. “Uttarkhand being a small State, they are pumping in money to lure the voters.
They are also blatantly using the government machinery to scare the voters. I am sure that they have struck deals with Adani and Ambani groups, assuring them that their hydro power projects would be approved in case BJP is voted to power,” CM said.