Cong used illegal means to lure voters: Nishank

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 19

Haridear MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today accused the Congress of misusing the administrative machinery during polling for the Assembly elections in the state on February 15.

Nishak, while addressing mediapersons at the Press Club, said Congress candidiates offered liquor, cash and gifts to lure voters across the state. “The Congress openly indulged in horsetrading of legislators, and it again resorted to illegal means to lure voters,” he said.

He urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take strict action over such complaints to instill confidence in voters.

He referred to a better voter turnout this time and said, “It reflects the mindset of voters for a change in the regime, as witnessed in the 2014 parliamentary elections when the BJP-led NDA ousted the Congress-led UPA government. The voting pattern itself suggests a pro-BJP wave in the state. People want a strong, stable and corruption-free government in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s four election rallies got an overwhelming response. People want a BJP government in the state as is at the Centre. The Congress-led state government failed to utilise the Central aid properly and also delayed various Central projects by not providing requisite land”.

Nishak claimed that the BJP would win all 11 Assembly seats in the district and Chief Minister Harish Rawat would lose to BJP candidate Swami Yatishwaranand by a huge margin from the Haridwar rural seat.

“Even reports from Kichha in Udham Singh Nagar, the second seat Harish Rawat has contested from, indicate a pro-BJP voting pattern. It seems people in Kumaon and Garhwal have rejected ill-governance of the Congress. The BJP will come with a full-fleged majority,” he added.