Congress accuses Modi of misusing power to influence voters

Ahmedabad/Rajkot, Nov 15: Congress has accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of misusing his powers to influence voters ahead of the Assembly polls, scheduled to be held in December.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists can be seen roaming in the city with framed pictures of Modi and distributing it in shops and showrooms.

Congress leaders feel that Modi is getting his framed picture distributed in every shop and showroom in the state to influence the voters.

"This is a murder of democracy. It is not wrong to advertise a party, but he is advertising himself and not his party by distributing his photo frames. This is not only wrong from Congress point of view but also from BJP point of view. He is misusing his powers, " said Kashmira Nathwani, a Congress leader.

However, the businessmen seem to have no problem in keeping Modi's photograph in their shops.

"We thought that Modi has done good work for Gujarat. I am thinking of keeping his framed photograph at my office because this will also benefit Gujarat, " said Mehul Damani, a merchant.

Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad some voters complained of absence of their names in the voter list and pointed out several mistakes in their voter identity cards.

"In the minority community people stay in a joint family and when they separate it gets difficult for them to get a ration card. So, because of lack of information and unavailability of ration card, it is getting difficult for them to get an election card, " said Farzana Sheikh, Member of a voluntary organisation.

The first phase of polling for 87 constituencies will take place on December 11. The remaining 95 seats will go to polls on December 16.

Elaborate arrangements have been made by the Election Commission to conduct polls fairly.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy, Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Quraishi visited the state to review the poll preparedness.

In the run up to the two-phase polling, political activities have started gaining momentum, particularly after the Tehelka sting operations related to 2002 post Godhra riots, with the BJP and the Congress trading charges and counter-charges against each other.

Counting of votes for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will take place on December 23.

The Bharatiya Janata Party managed to win 127 seats, while the Congress party was able to win only 51 seats in the 2002 Gujarat Assembly polls. The Janata Dal (United) and independents won two seats each. (ANI)

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