Bharti: EC giving ‘preferential treatment’ to BJP
New Delhi, May 26
Somnath Bharti, the AAP candidate from the New Delhi constituency, on Sunday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of giving “preferential treatment” to the BJP.
Addressing mediapersons, Bharti condemned what he called bias towards the BJP, alleging violations of electoral norms during his inspection of polling booths.
“The BJP has put the Constitution and democracy at stake, and the EC is working for it. It is allowing every wrong practice by the BJP,” Bharti alleged, expressing his concerns over the perceived bias. “If you are from the BJP, you can do anything and no one will stop you.”
Bharti elaborated on the alleged violations, stating, “The rule says that no party symbol should be visible within 200 metres of the polling station. However, ECI didn’t say that this didn’t apply to everyone. If you are from the BJP, you can do anything and no one will stop you.”
Reacting to Bharti’s claims, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor dismissed them as baseless. “The press conference of Somnath Bharti is evidence of nothing but his disappointment over the impending defeat. He couldn’t match the personality of Bansuri Swaraj,” Kapoor retorted, seeking to downplay Bharti’s accusations.
Kapoor continued, emphasizing the disparity between Bharti and the BJP candidate, Bansuri Swaraj. “Somnath Bharti could not match the personality of BJP candidate Bansuri Swaraj in any way,” he asserted. “That is why on hundreds of polling booths, his table and polling agents went missing yesterday.”
The BJP spokesperson further criticised Bharti’s election campaign strategy, alleging that he had focused more on lodging complaints than on actual campaigning. “Throughout the entire election campaign, Somnath Bharti did little campaigning but raised many complaints,” Kapoor stated.
He added, “Today, Somnath Bharti is accusing the BJP and the Election Commission on free and fair poll. But on June 4, we will see Somnath Bharti accusing his nine fellow party legislators for defeat.”
Bharti’s alleged defeatist attitude was also highlighted, with Kapoor suggesting that Bharti had known his chances of winning were slim since filing his nomination. “Since filing the nomination, Somnath Bharti has known that he is losing because his colleague Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj to MLA Shivcharan Goyal did not support him during the campaign,” Kapoor claimed.
