MP: Congress accuses BJP of rigging Vijaypur byelections; demands repoll

Bhopal, Nov 14 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Thursday accused the BJP of rigging the by-election to Vijaypur assembly seat in the state by roping in goons to intimidate and attack sections of voters, and demanded repoll in 37 polling booths.

The opposition party also claimed that workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) desecrated a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Vijaypur constituency in Sheopur district on the night of polling.

The ruling party, however, dismissed the charges saying the Congress was spreading lies.

In a press conference held here, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari claimed that the state machinery was blatantly misused to benefit the BJP during the bypolls to Vijaypur and Budhni assembly segments on Wednesday.

But despite the violence orchestrated by the BJP, the Congress will win the by-election in Vijaypur, he said.

"We lodged more than 100 complaints with the Election Commission about the violation of model code of conduct before and during the bypolls. However, nothing happened and violence took place unabated during the bypolls, especially in Vijaypur," the Congress leader alleged.

"A reign of terror was unleashed on Jatavs (a Dalit community) and tribal people in Vijaypur before and after the by-elections on Wednesday. The BJP went on a rampage. Many tribal-dominated areas came under their attack. The properties of Dalits were torched. BJP workers also desecrated a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at night," he alleged.

"It was for the first time that even dacoits were roped in to influence elections. Dacoit Bunty Rawat from Rajasthan, who faces 40 criminal cases, created terror in Vijaypur as he brought eight other dacoits to influence the elections. He was caught by people, who finally handed him over to the police," he said.

The state machinery was blatantly misused to benefit the BJP during the by-polls to both the constituencies in the saffron party-ruled state, according to Patwari.

"We have sought repolling in 37 polling booths in Vijaypur," he said.

"Even after the BJP's nefarious design of rigging the by-elections, we are going to win. We were expecting to win the Vijaypur seat by a margin of more than 50,000 votes. But after the BJP orchestrated violence, our victory margin has been halved. We will now win the seat by more than 25,000 votes," Patwari said.

When contacted over phone, state BJP chief V D Sharma outright denied the Congress' charges saying that it was spreading lies.

"Tell me, if Bunty Rawat was such a big dacoit as is being portrayed by the Congress, would the local citizens have mustered courage to catch him? The Congress tried to link him with our candidate Ramniwas Rawat from Vijaypur, but failed badly," he added.

"No rigging or any poll-related malpractices took place in both the constituencies. The EC conducted free and fair elections. We did not indulge in any sort of violence. In fact, the Congress tried to use violence but failed. The BJP fought the bypoll using fair means, and it will sweep them," Sharma said.

Patwari announced that his party will hold protests across Madhya Pradesh on Monday against the alleged desecration of Dr Ambedkar's statue.

"We will stage state-wide protests on November 18 to denounce the desecration of Dr Ambedkar's statue," he said.

Asked whether Jatavs and tribals were targeted for their perceived inclination towards the Congress, Patwari said other communities also voted in favour of his party in Vijaypur.

Voter turnouts of 77.85 per cent and 77.32 per cent were recorded in byelections in Vijaypur and Budhni assembly constituencies, as per the data provided by the officials.

The bypoll to Vijaypur constituency was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Ramniwas Rawat joined the BJP and was inducted into the Mohan Yadav-led cabinet. Rawat was pitted against tribal leader Mukesh Malhotra of the Congress.

The Budhni seat in Sehore district fell vacant after sitting MLA and former chief minister Chouhan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha. Ramakant Bhargava, a close aide of Chouhan, was pitted as BJP candidate against Congress' Rajkumar Patel, a former minister, in Budhni. PTI