Chirag joins Tejaswhi’s call for putting off Bihar polls
PATNA: Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), a constituent of the NDA, on Friday joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the main opposition party in Bihar, in calling for deferring state assembly elections due later this year in view of the raging pandemic, a suggestion promptly shot down by ally JD(U) while the BJP chose to leave it on the Election Commission.
In a series of tweets Friday, LJP president Chirag Paswan said he was not in favour of elections as it could pose serious risk to a large population and also put additional burden on the already burdened exchequer.
“LJP is prepared for elections. Our Bihar parliamentary board meeting verified the booth list for 94 seats and it would be completed for the remaining 149 seats also soon,” he tweeted.
The meeting was held Thursday in New Delhi.
“However, due to the pandemic, the common man as well as the Central and state governments are financially strained. Under these circumstances, election will put additional burden. All the parliamentary board members also expressed concerns over it,” he tweeted.
In another tweet, Chirag said the Election Commission should take any decision only after looking into all the aspects. “It should not happen that a big population is pushed into further danger due to elections. Election in the midst of pandemic could also lead to very low poll percentage, which will not be good for democracy,” he said.
With the Covid-19 spreading to new areas in the state, including VVIP areas, the RJD had last week accused the state government of caring little for the people while focusing more on preparations for assembly elections and had called for postponing the
› It should not happen that a big population is pushed into further danger due to elections. Election in the midst of pandemic could also lead to very low poll percentage, which will not be good for democracy CHIEAG PASWAN, LJP president
elections altogether.
“This is not the right time for election. There has been unprecedented increase in Coronovirus infection in the state, but the government seems unconcerned. The entire government seems too busy with elections. The government is hiding figures. If it doesn’t wake up, the situation may become explosive by August-September,” RJD leader Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav had said.
Chirag has been quite critical of the way Bihar government handled the pandemic and migrants’ issue in recent months and the JD-U has been upset with it.
Reacting to the LJP leader’s tweets, JD(U) spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said his party believes the Election Commission has taken a decision after consultations with all political parties to hold the elections on time. “The Janata Dal (United) has made its preparations keeping in mind the possibility of the elections being held on time,” he said.
The JD(U) leader said timely elections would be in interests of “good governance and will help Bihar get its due respect on the national stage”.
State BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said the EC was already working on modalities to ensure not only free and fare but also safe elections in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. “If the EC is satisfied with situation, elections will surely be taking place on time,” he said in a statement.
“Any political party is free to express an opinion but conducting the election is the sole prerogative of the EC. We will go by the decision of EC related to Bihar elections due in OctoberNovember 2020,” he said.
Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM-S said it favoured holding elections as scheduled. “The party is in favour of holding elections in Bihar on time. Our workers are ready and the EC can hold elections whenever it wants,” said its spokesman Danish Rizwan.