Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday criticised the Opposition over its protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that the Opposition lacked substantive issues against the BJP governments at the Centre and in Odisha.
In a statement, BJP state General Secretary Biranchi Narayan Tripathy said the Opposition had no major issue to raise against the BJP governments either at the Centre or in Odisha.
He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had completed 12 years in office at the Centre, while the BJP government in Odisha had completed two-and-a-half years.
Tripathy claimed that people continued to support the BJP because of its development initiatives and welfare programmes.
He also criticised the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), alleging a disconnect between its statements and actions.
Tripathy claimed that the BJD had maintained links with the INDIA bloc for a considerable period.
He further alleged that the BJD’s parliamentary party leader had attended a meeting of the Opposition alliance.
According to him, the BJD was attempting to maintain its political relevance by seeking support from different political formations.
He alleged that, at different times, the party had moved closer to both the BJP and the INDIA Bloc.
Referring to the Congress protest outside the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bhubaneswar and its demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Tripathy questioned the party’s stance on the Election Commission.
He claimed that the SIR exercise had been conducted 10 times in the country, including nine times during Congress-led governments.
Tripathy also alleged that the Congress had previously appointed a former Election Commissioner to a Council of Ministers and had fielded a former Election Commissioner as a candidate against BJP leader L.K. Advani.
On the legal aspects of the electoral roll revision exercise, Tripathy said the matter was already under consideration before the Supreme Court.
He stated that if the Opposition possessed evidence of deliberate deletion of voters’ names, it should place the details in the public domain and pursue available legal remedies.
Tripathy reiterated that the BJP believed in the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law.
He added that people in Odisha and across the country continued to support PM Modi and the BJP government in the state.
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