“Ask people to give more votes to get more works under MPLAD done in their locality,” instructed Dr Subhas Sarkar, the BJP candidate for Bankura Lok Sabha seat to his party men, which has triggered controversy here.
The Trinamul Congress candidate Arup Chakraborty has condemned Dr Sarkar’s bid and said, “He’s using voting as a bait, which is both objectionable and offensive. I’m set to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission against him on this,” said, adding, “He’s rather insisted the citizens to assume that if at all he’s elected he’ll block government funds for the areas where his vote share would be thinner.”
Dr Sarkar was holding a meeting with the booth representatives of his party where he insisted on further mobilization of the cadres to gear up support. A video of Dr Sarkar went viral where he’s seen giving such instructions. Dr Sarkar later said: “This is very common to inspire our party men and to give them a direction on how they would motivate our voters.”
Meanwhile, the Trinamul Congress has drawn the attention of the ECI on the issue. It wrote on X: “What would any leader worth his salt do to win over disgruntled party workers? Work twice as hard and prove he’s capable. What did Union MoS @Drsubhassarkar, do to win over Karyakartas who have been frustrated with his leadership (or lack thereof)? He offered them ‘incentives’.
The BJP MP who has been renominated from Bankura promised to allocate more MPLADS funds to those party workers who help increase BJP’s lead in their respective areas.
We urge the @ECISVEEP to take decisive action against such unethical campaigning practices that undermine the integrity of the electoral process.”