Raipur: The Opposition BJP in poll-bound Chhattisgarh has filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Raipur and sought action against 83 Congress candidates alleging that they have not provided their criminal records in front of the Election Commission within 48 hours of their selection.
However, Congress claimed that the BJP was putting false allegations against the candidates of the ruling party.
According to a Congress spokesperson, the party has not given tickets to people with "criminal tendencies" and has adhered to the criteria laid down by the Election Commission.
The Congress party has so far announced its candidates for 83 out of the total 90 seats in the state which will vote in the Assembly elections in two phases on November 7 and 17. The results of the elections will be declared on December 3.
What did the BJP claim?
The BJP submitted a complaint to the CEO on Saturday (October 21) citing a Supreme Court order which stated that the political parties must submit to the Election Commission the criminal antecedents of candidates within 48 hours of their selection, BJP's state legal cell convener Jaiprakash Chandravanshi in a statement.
“The Congress neither submitted the criminal records of its 83 candidates to the EC nor published it on the party's website, social media or in two newspapers, including a national and a local, which amounts to violation of the apex court's order,” he claimed.
Chandravanshi said that the list of Congress candidates who have not declared their criminal records has been enclosed with the complaint and sought appropriate action against them for alleged contempt of the top court’s orders.
Congress reacts
State Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur claimed that his party has not given tickets to people with "criminal tendencies" and hit back at the BJP alleging that it is the saffron party’s character to protect criminals and field them in elections.
“The BJP has been levelling false allegations against Congress candidates who have a clean image. We will fulfil the criteria laid down by the Election Commission,” he said.
Voting in 20 assembly constituencies out of the total 90 will be held in the first phase on November 7 for which filing of nominations ended on Friday.
Candidates from the Congress, BJP and other parties have filed their nominations for the first phase and it is mandatory for the nominees to disclose their criminal antecedents, if any, in the nomination papers.
(With PTI inputs)
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