Jaipur, Nov 14 (UNI) Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken serious exception to the Election Commission of India’s “inaction” in the matter of disbursement of pensions and the direct bank transfer of Rs10,000 to women or other payments in Bihar, which he described as part of the “vote chori”.
He said – “This, a sort of Vote Chori, was one of the deciding factors in the outcome of the assembly polls in Bihar.”
Talking to the media at the Congress state headquarters here Friday, Gehlot, the senior observer of the AICC for Bihar polls, said: “At this juncture at least, I can say disbursement of money was a vital factor. Disbursement of Rs 10,000 to women, disbursement of social empowerment department pension or other grants were continued even a day before the polling and the ECI turned a blind eye to it.”
“It was huge money power that worked there; the ECI did not take action against this use of money power. This has never happened. The Commission should have intervened and stopped it. This is also a form of Vote Chori,” the senior Congress leader said.
“Two years ago, we were distributing mobile phones to women beneficiaries, months ahead of the state assembly polls, that too as per the scheme announced by our then government in the state budget almost 9 – 10 months before the elections.
“However, the ECI acted immediately to stop mobile phone distribution and also asked our government to stop payment of pension to old aged, women or specially abled ones for three months in view of the Model Code of Conduct,” he said.
“The Commission stopped an ongoing initiative of social empowerment, couple of months ahead of the election in Rajasthan. It did not do anything to stop open organised money transactions even a day ahead of polling in Bihar. In this way Opposition’s votes were diverted. Isn’t it a form of vote chori? This has effected the outcome of the election there,” Gehlot said.
The three-time former Chief Minister, a star campaigner in the Bihar elections, asserted that everywhere, including Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, Vote Chori has been committed in one way or the other, even by using money power.
About the Anta assembly by-poll in Rajasthan, Gehlot said: “The strong anti-incumbency against the two-year old BJP government and popularity of the well deserving Congress nominee Pramod Jain Bhaya were the top factors in the grand old party’s win.”
