CHANDIGARH: The Akali Dal (Badal) and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKURajewal) on Jan25 alleged that the recently concluded panchayat elections in the state were egged by the ruling party.
Addressing separate Press conferences, the Akali Dal (Badal) chief, Prakash Singh Badal, the BKU general secretary, Balbir Singh Rajewal. and Bhupinder Singh, MP, demanded an inquiry into the role played by the police and the administration to ensure victory of the candidates. Badal claimed that despite the rigging, more than 60% of the candidates who won were supported by his party. However, he failed to explain how his party could get such a massive victory when more than 25% of his party’s candidates were allegedly picked up by the police to ensure victory of the Congress candidates.
He alleged that candidates were kidnapped, voters’ lists were tampered with, bogus votes were cast and polling parties were appointed and changed at the behest of the Congress legislators and ministers. It was not the Congress but the slate government which had contested the elections, he observed.
Commenting on the un precedence timeout, Badal claimed it only proved that the people were with the Akalis and not with the ruling party. Last year, when the Akalishad boycotted the elections, people had abstained from voting but now the Akalis had participated and the voter turnout was over 80%, he claimed.
Contesting the chief minister’s claim that the militants fear was a thing of the past, Badal said that “it was a lull before the storm,” asserting that only a political solution could ensure lasting peace in the state. He said that if the chief minister was So sure of his popularity, he should show the courage to seek a fresh mandate. Badal said the people had given a verdict against state terrorism, corruption and police repression. Ridiculing the chief minister,’ Claim that it was a referendum for peace and democracy and against fundamentalism and terrorism, Badal said that the Congress was the real murderer of democracy and pence in the stat.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1993
