The BJP on Friday submitted a memorandum to the State Election Commission in Bihar, demanding FIRs against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, among others, for alleged violation of model code of conduct imposed in view of urban local body polls.
The move comes a day after the SEC announced that the polls will be held on December 18 and 28, and counting of votes for the two phases will take place on December 20 and 30 respectively. Earlier, the elections were scheduled in October but got deferred because of a Patna High Court order.
In its press statement, the BJP said the SEC has been told that "MPs and MLAs of parties outside the ruling 'Mahagathbandhan' are being prevented by officials from undertaking development works on the ground as the model code of conduct is in force.
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Though the state government's functions are being held with fanfare and many of these are attended by the CM and the Deputy CM".
"We have therefore prayed that the CM, the Deputy CM besides ministers attending such functions and all government officials concerned be booked for violating the model code of conduct," the BJP statement said.
The ruling "Mahagathbandhan" scoffed at the BJP. "If BJP leaders are sure that their allegations are not baseless, they should lodge FIRs themselves instead of raising demands before SEC," said Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, senior minister and JD(U) leader whose party's exit from NDA had stripped the BJP of power in Bihar in August.
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The memorandum, to which a letter to SEC from state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal was also appended, was presented before the commission by a delegation comprising senior office-bearers of the party here.
(With PTI Inputs)
