Deregister parties backing terrorists, separatists: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to “deregister” political parties which were openly siding with “banned terrorist outfits” and those supporting “separatists” in Jammu and Kashmir.

A party delegation submitted to the Commission a two-page memorandum, signed, among others, by Yashwant Sinha, Prakash Javadekar, Vijay Goel and Arun Shourie.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi later told journalists that the delegation “verbally” told the Commission that it should take “suo motu notice” of the parties which expressed themselves against the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India and “others” that openly sided with separatists supporting their call to march to Muzaffarabad (in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir).

While the names of the parties were not mentioned, Mr. Naqvi admitted that the BJP had in mind the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Jan Shakti Party and the People’s Democratic Party.

A senior functionary said the BJP could consider filing a petition before the Commission seeking that the PDP be deregistered for its “pro-separatist” role in Jammu and Kashmir.

“If Congress leader Arjun Singh could ask for deregistering the BJP on the basis of L.K. Advani’s Somnath to Ayodhya ‘rath yatra,’ arguing that the party was misusing religion, why could not the Commission consider deregistering the PDP for its recent utterances,” the functionary asked.
‘Avoid mistakes’

The memorandum stressed the need to avoid “mistakes” in the preparation of photo electoral rolls. It pointed out that a large number of voters were not able to include their names on the rolls as many areas were under flood waters.
“Sensitive booths”

The BJP asked that “sensitive booths” be identified and that “unnecessary restrictions” on regular and legitimate means of campaigning and holding of meetings be lifted. When the campaign got pushed back, money and muscle power would take centre stage, the party argued. The Commission should put in place a code of conduct which allowed the parties to reach out to voters without undue restrictions.

Source : The Hindu