New Delhi [India], October 29 (ANI): Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on MLC elections, asking why he was not speaking on what he described as the “stealing of democracy”.
“Why is the PM not speaking on the stealing of democracy? We have heard what the Union Home Minister had to say. Why can't the PM speak on this most important observation? Instead, he is speaking on MLC elections,” Gogoi told ANI here.
Congress MP Manish Tewari criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the MLC election results, saying that comparing elections with different contexts and electoral colleges was not becoming of someone holding the office of the Prime Minister.
“Every election has a different context. The scope of the MLC elections and their electoral college are entirely distinct. Therefore, comparing one election to another in this context is not becoming of someone holding the office of the Prime Minister,” Tewari said in Chandigarh.
Reacting to the BJP padyatra led by party president Nitin Nabin, Tewari questioned its purpose and alleged that 13 crore people had been disenfranchised.
“What is the purpose of their padyatra? If they were to restore the voting rights of 13 crore people who have been disenfranchised, the situation would normalise on its own. It is a strange irony that those in government—who are the very ones responsible for this situation—are now organising a padyatra merely to gloss over the issue,” he said.
Earlier, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Thursday called for an end to MLC elections held in graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, alleging that money plays a major role in the electoral process. He also questioned how candidates are selected.
"The candidates that get elected in such elections (one with graduates' and teachers' constituencies), you ask them about the exchange of money and how candidates are brought. This is an election of money. Such elections should be stopped," Singh told ANI.
The senior Congress leader clarified that the opposition’s demand for paper ballots was intended for direct popular elections, not MLC polls that follow a preferential voting system, where votes are counted in multiple rounds before the final result is declared.
"This is certainly a ballot box election, but it is a preferential vote. One vote is counted three times, and only then does the result come out, whereas in a ballot box election, the votes cast by whoever are counted right then. So we were not demanding elections of this kind," Singh said.
His remarks came in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's post on social media hailing the victory of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates in the MLC elections, viewing the outcome as a reaffirmation of the people's trust in the ruling coalition. (ANI)
“Why is PM not speaking on stealing of democracy?” asks Congress's Gaurav Gogoi, questions Modi’s remarks on MLC elections
