BJP nominee alleges threat calls, probe on

Tribune News Service
Bathinda, February 8

BJP candidate from ward No. 7 and party’s Mahila Morcha district president Mamta Jolly Jain has claimed to have received threat calls on her mobile phone, prompting the police to start a probe.

A complaint in this regard was filed by former BJP minister and Bathinda MC poll in-charge Manoranjan Kalia with Bathinda SSP Bhupinderjeet Singh Virk and Cantt police station SHO.

The SSP directed the officials to trace the number from which the calls were made. Jolly also lodged a complaint claiming a suspicious car had been spotted in her area, but the police had failed to trace its number.

SSP Virk said: “We have verified complaints by BJP candidates about threat calls, but there is a variance between the complaints and our findings. However, we have provided security to all BJP candidates. Women candidates have been given women officers.”

In her complaint, Jain said: “On Sunday evening, I received three calls from a number within a span of two hours. The caller dared me to campaign in any other area outside Bharat Nagar.”

She said it was sad that candidates of a national party were not being allowed their democratic right to campaign, adding political parties behind this were doing so in the name of farmers’ protest.

Besides, incidents of tearing of BJP candidates’ posters, including those of Jolly’s, have been reported in Bathinda. Earlier, posters of party candidate from ward No. 27 Sareena Goyal were blackened, while posters of candidates Kachan Jindal (ward No. 29), Babita Gupta (ward No. 30) and Shama Bharti (ward No. 49) were torn. In all these incidents, women BJP candidates were targeted.

BJP state secretary Sukhpal Sra has written to the State Election Commission and demanded security for party candidates, while district president Vinod Kumar Binta, who is contesting as an Independent, using his veto, has written to the SSP expressing satisfaction over the police arrangement for the poll in Bathinda.

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