Arunachal: BJP candidate violates Model Code of Conduct, seeks votes from government officials

In what could be termed gross violation of the election model code of conduct (MCC), a video clip of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate for the Basar (Leparada) assembly constituency, Nyabi Dirchi, has surfaced on social media, in which she is seen asking government officials to vote in her favour in the upcoming election as she is the official candidate of the BJP in Basar.

Sources in Basar informed that the BJP candidate was addressing a public rally at Bale Rijo in Tirbin on 23 March, in the Galo language.

“I have been given the ticket by the government. So all the officials, officers, gaon burahs and gram panchayat members who are drawing salaries from the government have to be careful and vote,” Dirchi is seen commanding in her speech.

“BJP spies have been deputed to identify those who are not kowtowing to the directive,” she is seen saying in the video. “Don’t blame me later if actions are initiated against the fence-sitters. Don’t hold me responsible and complain,” she is seen saying.

The Leparada district election officer has informed that the MCC nodal officer is “looking into the matter.”

Meanwhile, another video clip surfaced on Tuesday, indicating that Chief Minister Pema Khandu violated the MCC, saying that if BJP candidate Nyabi Dirchi is defeated, he would not set foot in Basar for the next five years.

“Let Nyabi Dirchi madam be uncontested. In case she is defeated, remember what I said on the 6th; I will not set foot here in Basar for the next five years,” Khandu is seen saying at a political rally in Basar.

It is also learnt that Anjaw District Planning Officer (DPO) Marto Dirchi has been suspended by the planning department for violating the MCC by giving a political speech in favour of BJP candidate Nyabi Dirchi.

It is alleged that the DPO was delivering a political speech in a rally, urging the people to vote for the BJP candidate.

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