JD(U) today hit out at BJP for criticising the Election Commission and staging protests, saying it would be difficult for the country to function if institutions like the poll body are made an election issue for political gains.
"Protesting against the EC is alright but making it an election issue and sitting on dharna for that is not correct. It is unjustified," JD(U) president Sharad Yadav told reporters here.
"If somebody sits on dharna against Supreme Court, how will the country function. EC is an institution just like that," he said.
Yadav said he too had been denied permission for holding public meetings in Varanasi on many occasions but he had made it clear he would not hold dharnas but conduct meetings in small rooms and halls.
Pitching for giving more powers to EC, he said it is the work of political parties to making such institutions stronger. "There is a need for improvement in it and more powers should be given to EC," he said.
Yadav also targeted BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for saying that he belongs to a backward class and said he never talked a "single line" about it before the elections.
"This time Modi is saying that he is from a "choti" (backward) class. Prior to this election, he has never uttered a word or a single line for backward classes," Yadav said.
Yadav also came to the defence of Priyanka Gandhi for her "neech rajniti" comment saying her Hindi vocabulary might not be so strong as she had studied in a public school and there could have been many alternatives to the "neech" word.
However, the way BJP and Modi have commented over the issue also reflected a "shallow discourse", he said.
Dissmisive about any "wave", Yadav said in this election, a huge "cloud of lies" has been spread which he has never seen in any election. Hitting out at the number of promises made by the main opposition, Yadav said that there may be a day when they would promise settling people on moon.
