New Delhi: Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder and Bihar's Bankipur bypoll candidate Prashant Kishor on Sunday (July 26) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of threatening women voters with the denial of government welfare benefits if they did not vote for the party. The election is scheduled to be held on July 30.
Kishor alleged that the BJP had deployed thousands of party workers, NDA leaders, actors and even 'Jeevika Didis' for the election campaign. Neeraj Kumar Sinha is the BJP candidate from the constituency.
"The BJP will claim we're losing, so we are making such statements. Jeevika Didis are being pulled into the Bankipur bypoll. Under the guise of promoting voter awareness, Jeevika Didis, who are employed by the state government, were tasked with telling women that they would stop receiving welfare benefits, including ration and pension, if they did not vote for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the BJP. The Election Commission must take note, or we will conduct a sit-in protest. The Bihar Chief Minister held a rally yesterday, and Jeevika Didis were brought here from across the state using government money. The Election Commission must take action," Kishor said while addressing a press conference in Patna.
The Hindu reported that the Patna district administration on Saturday (July 25) at 9.56 a.m. posted images of a Jeevika Didi participating in a door-to-door voter awareness campaign in the Bankipur Assembly constituency, with a BJP flag visible in the background. The administration deleted the controversial post a few hours later.
In a separate social media post, the administration said: "Door-to-door voter awareness programme in Bankipur assembly constituency by the National Urban Livelihoods Mission team." The post was uploaded at 11.15 a.m.
Commenting on the issue, Kishor said deleting a social media post was not enough and demanded that Patna District Magistrate Kundan Kumar issue an order barring women associated with 'Jeevika' as well as employees and semi-government workers from participating in the election process.
"It is not enough for the DM [District Magistrate Kundan Kumar] to simply delete a tweet (social media post). He must issue an order stating that no woman associated with 'Jeevika', nor any employee or semi-government worker, can be part of the election process. The Patna DM committed a shameful act yesterday through an official tweet. All day yesterday, these 'Jeevika Didis' held meetings and went door-to-door, telling women that failing to vote for the BJP would result in the loss of all government-provided benefits," Kishor said.
The JSP founder also alleged that Patna Police were harassing his party leaders staying in hotels, claiming that many of them had travelled to the city at their own expense and were facing daily raids at their accommodations.
"The BJP and the Election Commission need to explain the presence of BJP members staying here. Why are those hotels not being raided? Why are they not being asked who is paying their bills? Who is paying for the accommodation and meals of the large number of BJP members who have arrived? They need to clarify this as well," Kishor was quoted as saying by The Hindu.