RANCHI: As the delegation of Election Commission of India (ECI) led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand to review poll preparedness for the upcoming Assembly Elections, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has written a letter to the ECI demanding level playing field for all parties. Meanwhile, both the ruling alliance and the opposition parties have unanimously demanded to conduct the polls in fewer phases to avoid any kind of manipulation during the elections.
Notably, the Election Commission team held a meeting with the representatives of the political parties of the state in Ranchi, which was attended by the representatives of all the parties to put forth their views.
JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya, in his letter has demanded to ensure that flying zone for the star campaigners of the ruling alliance does not get disrupted in the name of providing ‘safe’ flying zone for the opposition leaders.
“Ensuring a ‘Level Play Ground’ to all political parties is the basic principle of your job responsibility and hence, it is your responsibility to ensure that all political parties get equal opportunity for campaigning,” stated Bhattacharya in his letter, adding that by providing safe flying zone to our rival political parties, it should also be ensured that there is no hindrance in the flying zone and time of our star campaigners.
The JMM also stated that it is the responsibility of the ECI to ensure that no specific religion or caste is mentioned during political and election campaigns. “Since August, BJPs central leaders have been giving statements on the lines of religion and caste, due to which, a situation of religious-cultural division has arisen in the society. It is your responsibility to ensure that communal polarization does not takes place and the society, and people can vote freely without fear and communal harmony is maintained in the society,” stated the letter.
BJP on the other hand, demanded that voter IDs have been acquired by the Bangladeshi infiltrators in Santhal Pargana region using fake Aadhaar cards, which must be investigated and a mechanism should be developed to identify and cancel them.
BJP’s investigation report suggests that there are several booths in Jharkhand where the number of voters has increased by 123 percent, whereas the commission has been saying earlier that the number of voters increased by 15 percent in five years. "We have demanded an investigation into this as well," said BJP’s National Spokesperson Rakesh Sinha. The poll body will hold meetings with political parties, government officials and enforcement agencies during the visit.
The state is likely to witness elections to the 81-member Jharkhand legislative assembly on or before December 2024 as the tenure of the current government is set to end in January 2025. However, the Election Commission is yet to announce the election schedule.
