Prez poll: Opp wants ECI to stop Naqvi, Poddar from voting

Following apparent inaction on the two persons named by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the alleged horse trading during Rajya Sabha Elections 2016, Opposition parties on Thursday targeted the State Government saying that it was not new for the BJP ruled States where they only point fingers on others.  

RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister lalu Prasad Yadav said that the Election Commission has directed Chief Secretary to lodge FIR against the two concerned persons as soon as possible, but nothing has been done so far in this regard.

He said that the BJP has this habit of keeping mum on its own mistakes, while pointing fingers towards others. Prasad was talking to the media persons after coming out of the Special CBI Court in Ranchi.

Meanwhile, the JMM has shot-off a letter to the ECI for removing names of the two BJP MPs of the Rajya Sabha from the State during the upcoming presidential election. The party while referring to a recent communication made to the Jharkhand Government by the ECI over probing two officials for their alleged role played in the ‘horse trading’ said to have happened during the RS polls 2017 has appealed that MPs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar need be prevented from voting.

The EC while acting on a CD surfaced following the poll in 2016 has written to the Government to investigate alleged roles of ADG Anurag Gupta and the then political advisor to the CM Ajay Kumar.

The EC, while acting on a CD surfaced following the poll in 2015 has written to the Government to investigate alleged roles of ADG Anurag Gupta and the then political advisor to the CM Ajay Kumar.

The letter written by JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya to The Chief Election Commissioner of India states that since the involvement of the two persons was ordered to be investigated by the ECI and action on the instructions of the ECI was expected on the matter, the election of the two MPs was clearly doubtful. And, when the election of the two MPs is itself under suspicion, how ethical will it be to allow them to vote for the election of highest Constitutional post, added the letter.

The JMM, thus, demanded that no person whose election is doubtful should be allowed to take part in the election process of the President of India.

The State Congress had already raised its voice on the issue seeking disqualification of Naqvi and Poddar from the electoral list during the Presidential polls.