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BJP on Friday came down heavily on Election Commission accusing it of being partisan by sending a special team to Bihar to look into alleged poll irregularities in the first phase after 23 days and rejecting its complaint of "more than 100 per cent" polling in some seats in Arunachal Pradesh.
"It is disturbing and unfortunate that the Election Commission has sent a special team to Bihar to inquire into polling in five constituencies in the first phase 23 days after the polling got over," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
He said even the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar was not aware that a team was to visit the state.
The six constituencies which will be examined by the team are Saran (erstwhile Chhapra) from where Lalu Prasad and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy are in the fray, Maharajganj, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui and Munger (which went to polls in the second phase on April 23).
BJP said the team, comprising of three serving and three retired EC officials, gave Rudy only a few hours to report to them in Patna.
Terming the formation of such a team when repolling had already been held in some of these constituencies as "curious and surprising", Prasad said: "This kind of intervention by the EC is to the best of my knowledge happening for the first time".
BJP alleged that the mandate of the special team was to order repolling.
"This is a novel way of investigation. Usually there is a complaint or an Observer's report and the EC looks into it. If it feels there is a need for a repoll, it orders one," Prasad said.
He sought to know the purpose and the nature of the complaint which led to the formation of the special team.
The EC also drew the ire of the BJP when it rejected its complaint that polls had been "rigged" in Arunachal Pradesh with some booths allegedly recording upto 106 per cent polling.
BJP leader Kiren Rijiju, who was an MP from Arunachal Pradesh in the outgoing Lok Sabha, said he was still not aware of the reason why his complaint was rejected.
"In normal circumstances, even when 90-95 per cent polling takes place the EC gets suspicious that rigging has taken place," Prasad said.
According to the BJP, more than 100 per cent polling was reported in 66 polling stations, including the area that falls under chief minister Dorjee Khandu's assembly constituency.
BJP has sought an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner to complain against this "brazen violation of electoral propriety".