UP elections: BJP leaders continue violating poll code, alleges Congress

The Congress accused ruling BJP leaders of violating the poll code ahead of the UP Assembly elections on Monday, and questioned whether the Election Commission was under pressure.

While his party’s event in Bahraich was allegedly not allowed due to a poll code violation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s door-to-door campaign in Kairana took place despite the presence of a large number of people, according to Naseemuddin Siddiqui, chief of the UP Congress media cell.

“It appears that the administration is under pressure, but is the (Election) Commission under pressure as well?” he asked reporters.

Referring to a Congress-organized tribute to freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose in Bahraich on Sunday, Siddiqui said, “We had a programme in a closed hall and even before it could start, the administration arrived and stopped it, saying permission had not been taken.””There were only 90 people in the programme, which was not even held, and I’ve been told that a police complaint has been filed in this regard,” Siddiqui said, questioning how many people are allowed in BJP-organized events.

Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Saturday programme in Shamli, he stated that the leader was on a door-to-door campaign in Kairana with thousands of people surrounding him.In addition, the Congress leader dismissed opinion polls.

When asked about the party’s refusal to give Angad Singh a ticket in Punjab after his wife, UP MLA Aditi Singh, made anti-Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remarks, Siddiqui asked not to drag the party or the Congress leader into “household matters.”Aditi Singh had recently become a member of the BJP.

In response to another question about some women in the party complaining that they have not been fielded in the upcoming elections, Siddiqui stated that ticket allotment is not the only way to advance women.

Updated by Deveshi Gupta