Bihar: Announcement of assembly poll dates by EC 'contempt of Supreme Court', says Dipankar

Patna, Oct 6 (PTI) CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Monday termed the Election Commission’s decision to announce the dates for the Bihar Assembly polls as "contempt of the Supreme Court".

In a statement issued here, Bhattacharya said, "The Supreme Court earlier scheduled October 7 for the final hearing of petitions challenging the Election Commission (EC) decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. Despite that, the EC announced the dates for Bihar polls. This is undemocratic and contempt of the Supreme Court".

Assembly elections will be held in two phases — November 6 and 11 — while the counting of votes will be done on November 14, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced in Delhi on Monday.

Bhattacharya said the CPI(ML) had launched a movement in Bihar against the alleged manipulation of the electoral rolls through the SIR process.

"There was a conspiracy to remove five out of every ten names. We fought this battle from the streets to Parliament to the Supreme Court. Our struggle will continue," he said.

The double-engine government in Bihar has been indulging in "note chori, vote chori, aarakshan chori" and land grabbing for the past 20 years, he alleged.

"Now that the elections are near, they (ruling parties) are hatching a plan to return to power by bribing the public, they want to steal the election. But the people of Bihar will foil this attempt of the NDA and will throw Modi-Nitish's double-engine government out of power", he said. PTI PKD MNB