BJP wants polls in Bengal under Army supervision Friday, May 14 2004 18:23 Hrs (IST)
Kolkata:
Stung by the resounding defeat in Parliamentary election in West Bengal, the State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (May 14, 2004) said it would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission calling for measures, including a possible deployment of the Army, to put a stop to electoral malpractice and scientific rigging in the State.
"We are readying a report on the irregularities indulged in by the ruling Left Front in the State. We will submit it to the Election Commission soon."
"Free and fair polls are just not possible with this Government in power. Whatever measures the Election Commission may want to take for conduct of proper polls, they'll not be able to implement them on the ground due to the lack of will of the Government," the State BJP president Tathagata Roy told reporters in Kolkata.
"The entire State machinery - police, administration and Government employees - is politicised. In such a situation, the only remedy is to take out the State Government fully from the election process," he said.
When it was pointed out that the Constitution had no such provision, Roy said, "If necessary, the Constitution will have to be amended. If need be, elections have to be held by deploying the Army."