Laloo Prasad, Rudy: Crossing swords

New Delhi, May 10: Election to the Chhapra seat, where Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is fighting BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, was countermanded today on the grounds of large-scale “silent rigging” and “intimidation of voters”.

This is the only constituency in the country where polling has been declared “null and void”. The Election Commission took the decision on the basis of the report of its two-member fact-finding team, which was sent to Chhapra after the BJP complained of rigging and demanded a repoll.

“Fresh polls will be held on May 31 in all the constituencies of Chhapra. The commission has declared null and void the elections held on April 26 to these constituencies,” said deputy election commissioner A.N. Jha.

Laloo Prasad has denied the allegations of rigging and said he will win the poll, when it is held again. The RJD leader is also in the battle from Madhepura, where he is pitted against Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United).

“I respect the Election Commission’s decision but it is very unfortunate and painful. I demand that the army should be deployed during the repoll in Chhapra. Vested interests want bloodshed in Bihar. They are out to tarnish the image of Bihar,” he said.

Laloo Prasad accused Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy L.K. Advani of “masterminding the countermanding”. The poll panel had “succumbed to their pressure”, he said. The commission was “misled and was setting a new tradition by countermanding and ordering a repoll”, the RJD chief said.

Asked if the decision could trigger violence, he said it might. “People will definitely be annoyed with today’s decision but I do not exhort them to take the law in their hands. My only appeal is in the people’s court.”

For the last two weeks, the BJP high command and Rudy had kept the heat on the commission, demanding countermanding of polls in Chhapra. Rudy offered the commission video recordings of scenes of violence in Chhapra. But the poll panel chose to send its own team to verify the BJP’s charges because the recordings gave no proof of the place and date of the scenes of violence.

Rudy, who is camping in Chhapra, welcomed the decision and said he was “totally geared up” for the repoll. “Laloo Prasad can make any comment. He can declare a filmmaker (Prakash Jha) mad. But the Election Commission is a constitutional body and we believe in democracy,” he said.

“Terror rules in Bihar. There is no law and order. Even today one of my senior supporters was targeted near Chhapra,” he said.

Bihar has been a trouble spot for the commission. Soon after the Chhapra controversy, Sharad Yadav landed on the commission’s doorstep with similar charges of electoral manipulation in Madhepura.

Laloo Prasad today said: “The police and administration of Bihar have been indicted for not performing their role properly in Chhapra. But what about Madhepura where jawans of the Border Security Force openly rigged the poll? This is a conspiracy because the BJP does not want me to enter Parliament.”

The commission indicted the Rabri Devi-led administration after the two-member team of K.J. Rao and Ananth Kumar toured Chhapra. “We have found evidence of large-scale silent booth capturing,” said Jha. The list of allegations against the state government includes not providing adequate security arrangements. “The commission also found that voters’ registers have been manipulated in various places. And the manipulations have facilitated silent rigging,” said Jha.

A commission team is also investigating allegations of rigging in Bettiah and Siwan. “We will come up with a decision as soon as the team returns and gives a report,” said Jha.