The Election Commission of India's impartiality will not be restored unless the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is removed from power, asserted Samajwadi Party's national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday, as he targeted the ruling party once again over a media report claiming 'dissent' within the poll body's members over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Briefing the reporters in Lucknow on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the Lok Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj said those who are in power currently subscribe to the ideology of those accused of assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. He said they have filed false cases, alleging that the poll body and the BJP have colluded to conduct the elections.
"Governments become weak when their time to leave approaches; that is when they resort to injustice. They file false cases and exert pressure on people. Those who once won elections through the Election Commission are now under scrutiny; the entire nation and all political parties are questioning the credibility of both the Election Commission and the government," Akhilesh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Akhilesh's remarks came even as the ECI has already clarified its stance over the Indian Express report that has caused a massive row throughout the country. Like Congress and other opposition parties, the Samajwadi Party has also called for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the matter.
Akhilesh, who has also sounded the poll bugle for next year's Uttar Pradesh elections, has also invited those who are against the BJP to support his party in the Rajya Sabha elections in the state. The Samajwadi Party has numbers for two of its members to get elected to the Upper House, but its leaders have said the party would field three candidates, triggering possibility of cross-voting.
"The time of Rajya Sabha elections is the time for coming together ('milan kaa samay hotaa hai'). It is time to move ahead from the earlier mistakes and stand united with others on matters of principle," Uttar Pradesh's former Chief Minister said earlier in the day.
"If someone believes that our democracy, Constitution, and economy are under attack, or considers the ethanol blending in petrol to be a wrong decision, then at 'milan kaa samay', we will put aside all past grievances and join hands with those friends who wish to collaborate with us. We will forget all those things," he added.
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