BJP, Mamata react to report on 'dissent' within ECI
What's the story
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra has questioned the opposition's claims that voter deletions helped the party win in West Bengal. He made the remarks after Rahul Gandhi called "vote chori a crime against the Indian people and...attack on our constitution." Gandhi was reacting to an Indian Express report that said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months over decisions linked to the SIR and voter database management.
Argument
'If we win by vote chori, then how...'
Patra pointed out that of the 20 Assembly seats with maximum voter deletions, the BJP lost over half.
"The edifice is because of deletion of voters from voter list the BJP won in Bengal. The most number of votes were slashed in 20 Assembly seats. In which 13 seats TMC won and 6 seats were won by BJP. If we win by vote chori, then how did we lose more than half of the seats?" he said.
Political criticism
Congress attacking constitutional institutions: Patra
Patra also slammed the Congress party for attacking constitutional institutions after failing to win over the people since 2014.
He said, "When Congress party realized that it cannot win over the hearts of people of India, it started attacking constitutional institutions."
He accused opposition parties of repeatedly targeting the Election Commission of India (ECI).
"But now ECI has issued a detailed note," he said.
The ECI had said that differing views are a "normal part of deliberation in any institution."
Democratic process
Patra defends ECI's deliberations as part of the democratic process
Patra defended the ECI's deliberations as a part of the democratic process, saying all election commissioners were on the same page after official discussions.
He said, "According to this note, it has been observed that official deliberations have happened between all the Election Commissioners."
This was a testament to how democracy works, he added.
Mamata
Mamata demands repoll
While Patra was defending the BJP, former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a Facebook Live, demanding fresh elections in Bengal and the arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
"BJP and Gyanesh Kumar is a joint venture company. They together looted the Bengal election. If you have any moral strength, give back our election," Banerjee said.
She called SIR a "Special Incentive for Ruling party," saying one has never seen "such a big scandalous story."