BJP inducing voters by offering bonus for poll survey: DMK in plaint to Election Commission

Offering bonus/gifts to those who participated in the poll survey amounts to bribing the voters, DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi said.

Chennai: The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Monday accused the BJP of inducing voters by offering a bonus for a poll survey on its website for the ongoing Lok Sabha election, and urged the Election Commission of India to take appropriate action on saffron party.

Offering bonus/gifts to those who participated in the poll survey amounts to bribing the voters, DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi argued, and said that the Model Code of Conduct was equally applicable to candidates and their parties during elections.

"A national party advertising election bonus is certainly an inducement to the voters, much less direct offering of money to the voters to vote in favour of the BJP," Bharathi said in a petition to the ECI and also to Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo.

He said that the advertisement admittedly issued by the BJP with the heading 'BJP Election Bonus' on the party website is a clear violation of section 123 (1A) of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

Sharing a few screenshots to substantiate his case, the DMK leader said, "This is indeed a corrupt practice and immediate intervention of the ECI is necessary to uphold the purity of elections through appropriate action against the BJP."

Also, he urged the Election Commission to give the necessary directions to the BJP to adhere to the framework of the law.