BJP hits out after Mahua Moitra flags Bangladesh poll officer arrest: ‘Speaking like an enemy’

Mahua Moitra

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra sparked controversy on Wednesday after she shared a picture of the arrest of Bangladesh’s former chief election commissioner in an election-manipulation case, saying it was a sign of “things to come” -- in what appeared to be a reference to the INDIA bloc’s claim that the EC chief is “colluding with the ruling BJP to rig elections”.

Moitra, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, drew a sharp response from the BJP, which accused her of speaking “like an enemy of the country.”

“Mahua Moitra is a Member of Parliament of India, but she speaks like an enemy of the country. The kind of tweet she has posted now -- is she trying to say that India’s democracy is like that of Bangladesh?” BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, hitting out at Moitra.

“Earlier too, we saw RJD leaders saying that if they lose the election, they will turn the country into Bangladesh or Nepal, creating such a situation. We have also seen Rahul Gandhi say that their fight is against the Indian State,” he told PTI.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly been attacking the EC’s special intensive revision (SIR) exercise. At a meeting on Tuesday with key AICC office-bearers of 12 states and Union Territories where the revision of electoral rolls is underway, Rahul Gandhi once again raised questions over the process.

During the meeting, Gandhi also said it is the Election Commission's duty to provide clean electoral rolls but instead, it was trying to put the onus on political parties, according to sources cited by PTI.

Gandhi claimed that the procedure is being adopted hurriedly and claimed that it is intended to delete genuine voters, the sources said.

Upping the ante over its 'vote chori' pitch, the Congress said the Election Commission's conduct during the SIR process has been "deeply disappointing" and demanded that the poll body must immediately demonstrate that it is not operating under the BJP's shadow.

"We held a comprehensive strategy review with AICC general secretaries, AICC in-charges, PCCs, CLPs and AICC secretaries from the states/UTs where the SIR process is underway. The Congress Party is unequivocally committed to safeguarding the integrity of the electoral rolls," Kharge said on X after he chaired the meeting.