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There was rage against the Election Commission (EC) from supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after it raided the party’s office here. Among other things, a car stuffed with some 2,000 T-shirts was found outside the office.
The search was conducted by the flying squad of the EC. The materials were found in the car and not in the BJP office.
District Magistrate Pranjal Yadav and Special Election Observer Pravin Kumar later told reporters that the poll panel decided to close the case as the material was not being used for campaigning. Following the incident, the BJP made a huge hue and cry about the EC’s “arbitrary actions” and how the local administration was selectively targeting the party.
These items were not being distributed among prospective voters, the officials added. On if action would be taken against other parties too, Yadav said the raid was conducted according to information received by the flying squad and action would be taken on all such information.
Officials said the raid was conducted to seize election campaign material as it was tipped off about such items lying in a large quantities in the BJP office.
The raid at the main BJP office, in Kashi locality, prompted a major protest and sloganeering by party supporters. BJP leaders said these were unused campaign materials and the party was not indulging into any campaign activities.
The seized items included pamphlets and badges. Some vehicles were also seized outside the BJP office and one of the vehicles didn’t have a registration number, officials added.
In Varanasi, BJP’s Narendra Modi is pitted against the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal and Congress’ Ajay Rai, among others.
