INDIA bloc biggest roadblock to free & fair elections: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday slammed comments by functionaries of governing parties in West Bengal and Jharkhand targeting the special intensive review of electoral rolls, as it accused INDIA bloc of being the biggest roadblock in ensuring a free, fair and transparent polling process.BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also played the angry comments of West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in Lok Sabha in 2005 against the presence of suspected infiltrators from Bangladesh in the state, which was then governed by the Left, and her demand that voters must have a proven citizenship.She raised the issue of infiltrators 14 times in 22 minutes and then threw a file towards the Speaker after a discussion was not allowed, he said, and referred to her current stand against SIR to prod the Bengal CM for the reason behind her about-turn on the subject.Trivedi referred to reports of suspected infiltrators in the state crossing over to Bangladesh to escape action by authorities to note that infiltration into India used to make news earlier. Under Modi govt, infiltration had come to a stop, he said, adding that an Assam governor had once stated that over 5,000 people were illegally crossing over into the country daily.In a swipe at Trinamool and Congress, Trivedi said he understood why people with suspected citizenship are scared and leaving, but he could not fathom the fear in these two parties. This, he suggested, is because of their dependence on the votes of infiltrators.Jharkhand minister and Congress neta Irfan Ansari, he said, had asked people to lock up booth-level officers if they seek to delete their names from the voters’ list in the absence of documents. A TMC functionary, he added, had threatened a BLO. “These parties appear to support the ongoing conspiracy to grab power with the help of infiltrators and to disrupt the constitutional process,” the BJP MP said, noting that former Union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, a Congress MP, had said in 2004 in Parliament that over 2 crore Bangladeshis were staying illegally in India.