Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) - the ruling party in Jharkhand -wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking her intervention after Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s chopper take-off delay in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security.
JMM leader Manoj Pandey said, "This is a very serious matter. In a democracy, there should be a level-playing field for campaigning during elections. A level-playing field should be provided to all parties. But it was openly violated."
A dictatorial government stopped a popular CM, our star campaigner, a tribal son from election campaigning, he said, adding there was a delay of 1.5-2 hours, though it was not necessary.
"Our leader had to fly in a chopper from Gudri and had to go somewhere else - very far from Ranchi. But he was not given ATC clearance. If these things happen, you can understand how frustrated and dejected they are. They have stooped to a level where our chopper is not permitted to fly, we can't campaign for elections and we get delayed and there is obstruction in our rallies," the JMM leader said.
Such things are being done at the behest of the BJP government (at Centre), he added.
"It is very objectionable. The President is the custodian of our democratic rights and we have written to her, asking her to intervene and control the matter. Because we don't trust the Election Commission," Pandey said.
PM Modi addresses two rallies in Jharkhand
Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies in poll-bound Jharkhand. The prime minister attended BJP rallies in Chaibasa and Garhwa. After addressing the Garhwa rally, the PM headed to Ranchi and travelled to Chaibasa, where he participated in another rally around 2:30 pm.
Also read: EC reschedules bypolls in UP, Punjab and Kerala from November 13 to November 20
