Police complaint against BJP leader Mukul Roy for 'bribing' voters

A police complaint has been registered against BJP leader Mukul Roy for promising to give smartphones to the voters between 18 and 21 , if the party wins the elections in the Jalpaiguri district in the upcoming panchayat elections.

Trinamool Congress candidate Bidhan Chandra Roy registered the complaint against the former TMC leader for infringing the Model Code of Conducting guidelines during his campaign.

“If you vote the BJP and it wins the zilla parishad elections, then there will not be a government of utsavs. The youth will be given smartphones in a bid to encourage cashless transactions,” Roy was reportedly heard saying.

Bidhan Chandra Roy on Sunday alleged in his complaint that Mukul Roy had tried to bribe the voters into casting their votes in BJP’s favour.

Investigation have begun after the case was registered on Sunday.

TMC will also file an official complaint at the State Election Commission (SEC) against Mukul Roy, as per reports.

Jalpaiguri is one of the districts where election will take place for the zilla parishad seats. Even during the Trinamool regime, in the last panchayat polls in 2013, Left Front had won Jalpaiguri zilla parishad. This time the ruling TMC is facing competition from BJP.

TMC national secretary general and state parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said that is was nothing but a poll stunt.

“Besides breaking model code of conduct, he has also put the ethics of his party under question. People of Bengal may be poor but they will not fall for these enticements. It is nothing more than poll stunts and will not yield any positive result for BJP,” he said.

He further said that BJP had distributed booklets to the people claiming that if BJP takes over after the poll then people of certain communities would not be allowed to enter certain areas.

“We condemn these. We will bring it to the notice of the SEC as well,” he said.