By IANS,
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday alleged that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance is trying to woo voters in Maharashtra through “unlawful means” and it has been proved in the Election Commission’s notice to NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
“Congress-NCP government has failed to deliver in last 10 years. They know that people are not going to vote for them, so they are using unlawful means to woo the voter and this can be seen from poll panel’s notice to Sharad Pawar,” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS.
The Election Commission Wednesday said it has issued notice to union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for violating the model code of conduct in Maharashtra where assembly elections are slated for Oct 13.
The poll panel said it had received a complaint earlier this week about an agriculture ministry advertisement in a newspaper published in Mumbai Oct 3.
“The advertisement has violated the model code of conduct since it is with a slogan and message (in Marathi) that said “Dear farmer, this kharif season, the rains did not help you. But we will – message to farmer friends from union agriculture ministry,” the complaint noted.
Naqvi said that such advertisements show the bankruptcy of issues and ideas of the Congress-NCP coalition.
“Publishing the advertisement in Marathi language in a newspaper published from Mumbai at the time of the elections in Maharashtra is prima facie motivated to influence the voters of the state,” said the election commission in a press release.
Pawar has since submitted his reply to the notice and the poll panel will meet Thursday to deliberate over it, said an election commission spokesperson.