Maharashtra CM using state machinery to influence polls, says Congress

Ashok Chavan.

IN A scathing attack against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan on Thursday alleged that the state’s official administrative machinery was being used to influence the outcome of the Lok Sabha bypoll in Palghar.

“The chief minister is luring voters in violation of the model code of conduct. He is using the entire administrative machinery to help BJP’s prospects. Some senior police officers are even threatening locals to vote for the BJP candidate,” Chavan told mediapersons in Palghar while campaigning for the election.

Alleging that places of religious importance in the constituency were being used to campaign for the BJP, he said: “The BJP has put up hoardings on a massive scale. Does it have the permission to do so? The Election Commission (EC) must also look into how the ruling party has spent its funds for the bypoll.”

The Congress has already complained to the EC about all these and that the latter should act on it now, he added.
While the BJP and the Shiv Sena have been attacking each other in their campaign, Chavan targetted both the parties on Thursday. “The chief minister can sense defeat. The BJP has done nothing for the constituency in the last four year. That’s why they are now parachuting the Uttar Pradesh chief minister (Yogi Aditynath) and Union ministers to hold rallies. The CM himself has been on election tour for four days,” Chavan said. Adityanath had addressed a rally in the constituency on Wednesday.

Targetting Shiv Sena, Chavan slammed the party’s “greed” for power, and labelled their opposition to the BJP as “nothing but drama”. Raising the cause of Palghar locals whose lands have been affected by the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, Chavan said: “The CM is more interested in the development of Gujarat than this constituency.” He recalld how a coastal police training centre, originally proposed in Palghar, was now being shifted to Gujarat.