BJP targets PM for being absent during polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he had been ‘absent’ during the elections while his senior Cabinet colleagues were confined to addressing press conferences using ‘angry and impolite’ language against Narendra Modi.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the populist issues like the Right to Information and Food (Security) Bill raised by Congress party were ‘non-issues’ in this election whose last and ninth phase took place on Monday. “When the going is not so good, even populist schemes are not able to deliver. Regrettably, the outgoing PM Manmohan Singh was absent in the elections. Even his senior Cabinet ministers were confined to addressing press conferences with use of angry and impolite language against Narendra Modi,” he wrote in his blog.

Complete Coverage: Elections 2014

Looking back at the electioneering during the nine-phased polls, Jaitley said, “Intimidation of rival political parties and capturing the booths silently was a low point of this election.” He expressed hope that the Election Commission will be better equipped to tackle this menace in future. BJP has been critical of the EC over what it has described as ‘silent booth-capturing’ in parts of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh besides the poll watchdog’s decision to deny its prime ministerial candidate the venue sought by it to hold a rally in Varanasi.

Jaitley also hailed Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, saying the energy displayed by him during his marathon campaign as well as the large turnouts in his rallies were the high point of this election. Contending that large turn-outs necessarily mean a decisive vote, he said a decisive vote in this election can only be a ‘pro-Modi, pro-BJP or pro-National Democratic Alliance vote’.