Indian opposition accuses Modi of using arrests and bank account freezes to fix vote
ONE of the leading figures of India’s opposition party has accused the prime minister of trying to fix the country’s national elections by arresting key opposition leaders and freezing the accounts of his party.
Rahul Gandhi hit out at Narendra Modi yesterday at a “Save Democracy” rally attended by opposition parties and tens of thousands of supporters.
At New Delhi’s Ramlila Ground, he said: “When pressure is put on umpires and captains, players are bought off and the match is won, in cricket, it is called match-fixing.
“We have Lok Sabha [parliament] polls before us. Who selected the umpires? Before the match started, two [of our] players were arrested.
“Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing in these polls.”
Mr Gandhi was referring to the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister, in March on corruption charges and the January arrest of Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, in a money-laundering case.
He added that Congress’s bank accounts had been frozen in what he termed an attempt to hamstring campaigning efforts. “We have to run a campaign, send workers to states, put up posters but all our bank accounts have been closed,” he said.
The rally – organised by Mr Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party and Congress – was a show of strength by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, a coalition of more than two dozen opposition political parties fighting Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Many analysts see Mr Modi’s re-election as a foregone conclusion, partly owing to the resonance of his assertive Hindu-nationalist politics with members of India’s majority faith.
Mr Gandhi said the Modi-led BJP is seeking to win 400 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats – but it would not even gain 180 without manipulating Electronic Voting Machines, buying-off the media and pressuring opposition leaders.
Almost a billion people are eligible to vote in the election, which will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.