RAIPUR: BJP has lodged a complaint with state chief electoral officer and ECI on Tuesday over the decision of Dantewada district administration to deny permission to Ex-CM Raman Singh to hold Assembly by-poll rallies.
Raman Singh is among the star campaigners for whom the party has sought permission to hold election rallies at four different places on September 18-19. Dantewada district administration denied permission due to security issues.
“But when by Tuesday noon we didn’t get any response a delegation of the party met the district election officer. But the administration didn’t give permission for three places — Nakulnar, Metapal, Tumnar citing security as reason and allowed only Bacheli for a public meeting. When the CM Bhupesh Baghel can hold public meeting recently at Nakulnar and Tumnar and the security can be provided to him, why then the former chief minister be deprived of the same security”, the leader of opposition Dharamlal Kaushik said.
The BJP cited that it appears the ruling Congress has already accepted its defeat before the upcoming by-poll election.
“With the one-sided decision, the district administration is apparently working like a care-taker for the Congress party. And the entire schedule of the Congress is being prepared by the administration”, alleges BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar who was the part of the delegation.
Early this month the BJP cited the Dantewada collector Topeshwar Verma as a relative of the CM and sought his removal ahead of the by-poll scheduled to held on September 23.
The by-polls in Dantewada seat was necessitated following the death of a sitting BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi. Barely two days before the first phase of polling in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, Mandavi and four police personnel were killed in a powerful IED blast triggered by the Naxals at Dantewada on April 9.