Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has accused the BJP of large-scale irregularities in the recent panchayat elections in Uttarakhand. Addressing the media at the Congress office, he announced that he will launch a state-wide ‘Nyay Yatra’ from September to take the issue to the public’s court. He also said that a massive protest will be organized either in Dehradun or Nainital.
Rawat alleged that the Dhami government used money power, police, administration, and criminal elements to manipulate the election process. He claimed incidents of abduction of district and block panchayat members took place in Nainital, Dwarahat, Bajpur, and Betalghat. According to him, democracy functions through institutions, but BJP is attempting to control them all.
He further alleged that the government deliberately created confusion over reservations in panchayats and bypassed rules while deciding district panchayat chairperson reservations in four districts. Rawat said that the Election Commission acted beyond the Panchayati Raj Act 2016 by allowing voting despite invalid nominations, which he termed as an insult to the legislature.
The former CM also accused police and administration of acting as agents of the ruling party, alleging that elected representatives were abducted in several areas to influence results. Referring to incidents in Nainital, he said the entire country witnessed how voters were forcibly taken away at gunpoint.
