Will jail EC if elected: BBM chief Prakash Ambedkar

Mumbai: Calling the Election Commission of India (EC) biased, Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar said that if his party were elected to power, it would jail the EC for two days for not letting political parties speak about the Pulwama terror attack.

Mr Ambedkar was addressing a rally at Yavatmal on Thursday where he alleged that the EC is working as the Bhartiya Janata Party’s (BJP) aide.

“We have lost 40 soldiers in Pulwama, but are still sitting quietly. We have been asked not to speak on the Pulwama attack. How can the EC gag us? Our Constitution has given us the right to speak. I am not the BJP.  If voted to power, we will jail the EC for two days,” Mr Ambedkar remarked during the rally.

Earlier on Wednesday, the BBM leader took a jibe at the BJP, saying, “If voted to power, the notes scrapped by the Modi government will be re-monetised.”

Following his remarks, the state EC has sought a report on the matter from the local poll officials. “We have sought a report from the local poll officers where Mr Ambedkar made the alleged remark. We have also asked the officers to submit the report by today itself,” additional chief electoral officer Dilip Shinde told a news agency.

However, Mr Ambedkar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha (LS) election from Solapur and Akola constituencies in the state, has maintained that he made the comment in a general sense but the EC part of the statement was singled out.

Mr Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, is contesting as a candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) —  an alliance of the BBM and Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The VBA is contesting all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Lok Sabha elections for a total of 48 seats in Maharashtra will be held in four phases, on April 11, 18, 23 and 29, following which the results will be declared on May 23.

Election Commission invokes IPC against Prakash Ambedkar

The Election Commission (EC) has filed a case against Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar for allegedly threatening to put the election officials in jail for two days.

The officials from the chief electoral officer’s (CEO) office said that the case has been registered against Mr Ambedkar under Indian Penal Code sections of 503 (Criminal intimidation), 506 (punishment for criminal int-imidation) and 189 (threat of injury to public servant) in the Digras police station in Yavatmal.

The Dalit leader had allegedly threatened to put the EC in jail for two days for not letting political parties speak about the Pulwama terror attack.

Dilip Shinde, additional chief electoral officer, said, “We had sought a report from the local polls officials after coming to know that such an incident has happened. After taking all facts into consideration, we had asked the local authorities to file a police complaint against Mr Ambedkar for threatening the election officials.”

Meanwhile, the election officials have said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has submitted his reply to the notice issued by the EC for his remarks against the EVMs.

The district election officer of Mumbai had issued a notice to Mr Raut for alleged violation of the model code of conduct over his comments against CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar.

Mr Raut, who is the editor of Sena mouthpiece Saamana, said in the publication on Sunday that Mr Kumar should be defeated in the elections even if it means the BJP has to ‘tamper with EVMs’.