In Kaithal, Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party had sought permission from the Election Commission to hold two programs for election campaigning. But both the applications were rejected with lewd abuse written in the comments. After the matter came to light, 5 employees working for he election commission have been suspended. AAP has said that this is a shameful incident.
AAP’s Shubham Rana had sought permission for meetings and for the use of loudspeakers. In addition to Chandna Gate of Kaithak, permission was sought for meetings and loudspeakers in ward number 9-10 and Siwan. It was reported that the program will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday (7th April).
However, the permission for the campaign events were denied. Moreover, in place of the reason of the rejection, the official wrote abusive words in the official letter, triggering outrage.
One comment reads – ‘Koni Dende’. This is in the Haryanvi language, which means – I will not give. However, the second comment contains abuse addressing the mother of the applicant. The party has objected to the comments made by the local office of the Election Commission officer while not allowing these meetings.
Five personnel working with the Haryana election commission have been suspended after the matter came to light, including one junior engineer and four computer operators.
OpIndia reached out to Shubham Rana to get more information in this regard. He said, “This incident is real. This permission was sought for meetings in villages. In this case, 5 people of the local election commission office have also been suspended. They are all computer operators. The local election commission official also did not rule out the possibility of a computer hack.”
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Assistant Election Officer) has directed the police to investigate the matter.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Kurukshetra Lok Sabha candidate Sushil Gupta released a video saying that BJP people are now sitting in the Election Commission’s office, who are rejecting permission to AAP to hold meetings and abusing their families. He said, “The people of the country are seeing how the Bharatiya Janata Party is making fun of democracy by killing it. The people of India will definitely answer this in the coming Lok Sabha elections.”
He added, “Strict action should be taken against administrative officers who do not respect the code of conduct. In a democracy, it is the job of the Election Commission to ensure fair elections. Time and again, such incidents are coming to light which shows that the Election Commission is failing to play its role.”
The Haryana unit of the Aam Aadmi Party posted, “Election Commission has become a puppet of BJP in Haryana. Permission for two events on 7 April was sought by AAP. The first one was rejected and then ‘Koni Dende’ (won’t allow) was written. The second permission was also rejected and obscene abuses against the mother were written. Can’t there be fair elections in this country? Nothing can be more shameful than the language used by the Election Commission. The people of the country will not tolerate this kind of mischief.”
Aam Aadmi Party posted, “Shameful!! Has the Election Commission recruited BJP trolls in its offices? When the AAP candidate asked permission from the Election Commission for the program So the Election Commission, abusing the AAP candidate in writing, refused to permit the event The Election Commission should tell the country that it is not responsible towards all the parties of the country; it has become only a political wing of the BJP.”
Haryana will go to polls on 25th May. Sushil Gupta himself is contesting from Kurukshetra. He is fighting the election against the BJP candidate former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. AAP state vice president Anurag Danda has termed it a dark chapter in democratic history. Sushil Gupta demanded strict action against the administrative officials for not following the code of conduct.