Delhi BJP President Harsh Vardhan today demanded a high-level inquiry into Maharashtra state machinery's alleged operation of excluding more than 60 lakh voters from the electoral rolls.
"The electoral rolls of Mumbai, Pune, Amravati and Nagpur were manipulated to suit the ruling Congress-NCP alliance. Rather than rig the election through violence, they chose to silently drop names of people most likely to vote for change. This is 'Rigging at Source," said Vardhan.
The media tried to give the people of Mumbai a bad name claiming they did not vote at the desired rate but the polling percentage was 52.66 percent, a record voter turn out in 25 years.
"It is clear the people of Mumbai wanted change this time. This time they were so eager to see a Narendra Modi-led government in Delhi that they came out in record numbers. In 1989 too they wanted to vote out Rajiv Gandhi and so exercised their mandate at an unprecedented rate," said Vardhan.
Throughout polling day, reports were coming in of people being turned away from polling stations because their names had either been deleted or, in the case of new voters, simply not included. Among those turned back was actor Amol Palekar.
Vardhan said that the cynical attitude of the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra is evident from the way polling officials put indelible ink on the right index fingers of voters in Girgaum and Borivili.
"Do they not know the basic rules? What has the EC done to bring these officials to book? Should they not be suspended?" Vardhan asked.
