Opposition raising questions on functionality of ECI, BJP responding: RJD's Manoj Jha

New Delhi, Aug 14 As the BJP maintains that the Supreme Court is giving the Election Commission a clean chit while the Opposition continues questioning its functioning, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Thursday said that the questions are being raised about the poll panel, but the answers are coming from the ruling party.

Speaking to IANS, Manoj Jha contended: "It is only said to give statements in a hurry. They (the BJP) should refrain from such remarks. They are making statements without waiting for the process to conclude. The dead people are coming back in the voters’ list, data is not being provided, and file images are being used. Wonderful — now the ECI is so weak that it has given the responsibility of defending it to the BJP. This relationship between the two is dangerous."

"The question is on the functionality of the ECI, and the answer is being given by the BJP. The BJP has played an important role in the loss of credibility of the ECI," he added.

On the Supreme Court has not yet declared the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission unconstitutional, Jha said: "Those are only remarks. Don’t pre-empt anything. Let’s wait for the verdict."

Asked whether he has faith in the Supreme Court or feels the apex court is doing a favour, he replied: "No, I think it’s better to keep the Supreme Court above such remarks. It is the only ray of hope in the dark. It would be better if we do not drag the top court into these allegations."

Jha also reacted to the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s announcement of a ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ starting from Bihar’s Rohtas district on August 17 to protest against the way the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls is being conducted in the state.

"Have you visited Bihar recently? Whoever advised the SIR has written a script to remove the BJP from there. Every voter now has the question: ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor’," he said.

On whether the SIR should be cancelled, Jha said: "The matter is in the Supreme Court, so no statement should be made on that. But I would like to say again that our ideal was the first Chief Election Commissioner, Sukumar Sen. I think the BJP is functioning on WhatsApp knowledge and may not even know about him. He should be our ideal, not the Election Commission of Bangladesh."

Amidst the Opposition’s strong resistance to the SIR drive and calls for poll boycott in Bihar, Jha on Wednesday took a sarcastic swipe at the Election Commission, stating that it should not take inspiration from its Bangladeshi counterpart.

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