REF: BJP/ECC/2019/135
Date: 21.05.2019
To,
Chief Election Commissioner of India,
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan,
Ashoka Road,
New Delhi-110001.
Sub.: Complaint Regarding Arbitrary and Illegal Arrest of the Candidate, Counting Agents, Election Agent & Other Members of BJP in Chhindwara, M.P. a Day Before the Date of Counting.
Sir,
Your immediate attention is drawn towards an unprecedented, arbitrary and illegal arrest of Shri Banti Sahu, a candidate for the bye-Elections to Vidhan Sabha in Chhindwara along with other 22 members of Bharatiya Janata Party. The police is working as an agent of the ruling government of INC, under the complete derogation of principles of natural justice and equity. We have also submitted a complaint to the CEO, Madhya Pradesh in this regard.
It is stated that the MP Police had registered several frivolous cases against the members of the BJP in Chhindwara, M.P. during the entire period of the elections. Before the conclusion of the polls on 29.04.2019, Police had detained several members of the BJP without any notice, memo of arrest etc. When Mr. Banti Sahu, went into the police station to take note of the situation, contrarily a case was registered against him for the violation of section 144 of IPC. It is pertinent to mention herein that, the by-election to the Vidhan Sabha is being conducted since Mr. Kamalnath took over the charge as CM of Madhya Pradesh.
After the conclusion of the poll on 19.05.2019, names of the counting agent of the BJP were submitted to the Election Commission on 20.05.2019. That soon after on 21.05.2019, a total of 22 members of opposition parties including Shri Banti Sahu, candidate for BJP for bye-elections to the Vidhan Sabha and other Counting Agents, Election Agent etc. were arrested under the offences under sections 147, 188 and 341 of the IPC, which is nothing but a larger conspiracy to assure that none of the members/counting agents of the candidates of other parties, their counting agents etc. don’t reach the counting stations, so that results could be influenced and hence manipulated in their favour. It is pertinent to mention herein that, the names of the counting agents were finalized and they were supposed to undergo necessary training which was illegally interrupted by their arrest is a gross and blatant violation of principles of natural justice.
Therefore, in view of the reasonable apprehensions as corroborated from above, against the arbitrary and illegal conduct of the MP police especially against BJP and its members, we request this Commission to take note of the situation with urgent and appropriate action and assure that no such illegal acts are attributed to our members during the Counting of Polls. It is also requested that this Commission may also be pleased to appoint ‘Special Counting Observer’ especially for the Chhindwara Assembly Constituency bye-elections so that free and fair counting could be ascertained.
Om Pathak, Member Neeraj, Member
Election Commission Committee. Election Commission Committee.
May 21st 2019 BJP/ECC/2019/134
The Chief Election Commissioner of India
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road
New Delhi - 110001
Subject: Fake, Malicious and Sinister Propaganda Campaign being run in a coordinated manner on Twitter by the Aam Aadmi Party against Bharatiya Janata Party and Election Commission of India regarding EVMs calling for violent “revolution” by public on the streets against “Fascism”
Sirs,
A coordinated fake, malicious and sinister propaganda campaign is being run online by the Aam Aadmi Party. One Savita Anand member of the Aam Aadmi Party Social Media Team has tweeted on 20.5.19 at 5:23 AM stating: “अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मीडिया मे खुलासा - मोदी ने हारा हुआ चुनाव जीतने के लिए 200 लोकसभा सीटो पर ईवीएम चेंज करवा दी है! अगर ये सच है, तो सड़कों पर उतरने के लिए तैयार रहें। बड़ा आंदोलन होगा, तानाशाही के खिलाफ।“ This is translated to “Revelation in international media. Modi to win elections has changed EVMs in 200 Lok Sabha seats. If this is true, then get ready to get on the streets. A big revolt will happen against facism” A video has been posted along with tweet, authenticity of which is also highly doubted. Copy of the tweet and video is annexed hereto and marked as Annexure 1 and 2 respectively.
Subsequently media reports have been published online on this tweet stating that the video posted is fake and its credibility is doubted. The media report concludes by saying that “Given the sketchy details about this website and the manner in which this sensational news has been presented without any authentic source, it can be said the information is not reliable.” Copy of the media report is annexed hereto and marked as Annexure 3.
Similar false and misleading tweets have been shared by Ms. Anand and other leaders of AAP on EVMs pointing fingers at the Bharatiya Janata Party and Election Commission of India which read as follows:
“Seems a farce is being played on the nation tonight, in the name of nationalism“[20.5.19 at 11:32 AM]
“Why is no opposition tweeting about this? EVMs being replaced openly in many parts of the country! Why is the Media busy discussing IDIOTIC #ExitPolls while @narendramodi is stealing the elections?” [20.5.19 at 11:39 AM]
Sh. Manish Sisodia on 20.5.19 at 7:32 PM:
“झाँसी...मेरठ...ग़ाज़ीपुर..चंदौली...सारन..हर जगह मतगणना केंद्रों पर मशीने बदली जा रही है..लेकिन चुनाव आयोग और तथाकथित-मीडिया मोदी के सामने नतमस्तक,आँखों पर पट्टी बांधे घुटनों के बल बैठा है.. जनता ने मोदी के ख़िलाफ़ वोट दिया है उसे मीडिया और चुनाव आयोग मिलकर बदल रहे हैं..”
Sh. Raghav Chadha on 20.5.19 at 8:09 PM:
“उत्तर भारत की कई सीटों पर भाजपा EVM बदलने का काम कर रही है। यह देखते हुए हमने साउथ दिल्ली स्ट्रांग रूम के बाहर AAP कार्यकर्ताओं की फौज बढ़ा दी है। अब केवल CCTV रूम में ही नहीं बल्कि स्ट्रांग रूम के चारों तरफ AAP कार्यकर्ता तैनात रहेंगे, पूरे दल-बल के साथ।“
Sh. Dilip Pandey on 20.5.19 at 7:39 PM:
“Here, a former CEC terms this incident as shocking, while current @ECISVEEP seelpz..zz..zzz.zzzz. Now you know what Amit Shah, Sakshi Maharaj, Pankaja Munde were talking about (#2019 might be the last election), yes, they were talking about snatching democracy out of our hands”
Sh. Sanjay Singh on 21.5.19 at 3:04 AM:
“पूरे देश में EVM बदले जाने की ख़बरें आ रहीं हैं लेकिन मीडिया वाले और भाजपाईयों का रटा रटाया जवाब है "हार से डर रहे हैं" हार से नही तुम्हारी गंदी साज़िशों से डर रहे हैं भाजपाईयों।“
Copy of the tweets is annexed hereto and marked as Annexure – 4.
Such malicious tweets purely aim to spread canards about EVMs in a bid to undermine the impending victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in these general elections as per exit polls. This is sinister conspiracy of the leaders of AAP. One of the tweets also calls for a “Revolution against Fascism” which sends out a very dangerous message of propagating violence and causing strife and distrust among the people, against the Indian democratic system. A similar charade was attempted in London this year in January against EVMs in presence of Indian National Congress leader Mr. Kapil Sibal. This is thus just another round of such frivolous attempts by certain political parties to spread misinformation and lies to undermine the Bharatiya Janata Party’s impending victory.
We request the Commission to order the strictest action against such political parties and its members who are clear threats to the Indian democratic system. The Commission must also issue directions to the Police Commissioner to register FIR, to unearth the conspiracy and take action against all those who are part of this sinister propaganda campaign. Directions must also be given to Twitter to take down the said tweet.
These measures are a must to protect the sanctity of the electoral process and save the democratic system of the country.
Yours Sincerely
Neeraj
Member, Election Commission Commitee
Enclosures:
- CD containing video
- Copy of the impugned tweet(s)
- Copy of media report
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