The BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday hit out at Congress for appealing voters to exercise NOTA option and said it was an attack on democracy, while a councillor of the saffron party in Indore removed a poster stuck on an autorickshaw advocating the same.
Councillor Sandhya Yadav's act prompted Congress to approach the Election Commission (EC) and lodged a complaint against her.
The opposition Congress received a jolt in Indore after its candidate Akshay Kumar Bam withdrew his nomination on April 29, the last date for the withdrawal of nominations for the Lok Sabha elections.
Bam later joined the BJP, prompting the Congress to appeal the people to press NOTA during the polling in Indore on May 13 to teach the saffron party a lesson.
The Congress lodged a complaint with the EC after a video showing Yadav removing a poster of an organisation named `Loktantra Bachao Samiti' asking people to support NOTA surfaced on social media.
Asserting that she will continue to do so, the BJP councillor told PTI that she fulfilled her "duty of being a conscientious citizen" and removed the poster promoting NOTA from an autorickshaw.
Promoting this voting option is not in the interest of democracy, she said.
While claiming that angry voters were running the NOTA campaign, state Congress general secretary Rakesh Singh Yadav alleged that Sandhya Yadav threatened the autorickshaw driver and forcibly removed the poster. She was accompanied by goons, he claimed.
The Congress functionary said he has filed a complaint with the EC by submitting a video of the incident.
Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Sharma, on the other hand, claimed that encouraging the NOTA option is "an attack on democracy."
"In democracy, instigating people to press the NOTA button is a crime. The Congress leadership wants to weaken democracy," he further said.
In a swipe at state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, Sharma said, "Your candidate voluntarily withdraws his nomination at the last moment. The public is not stupid. You are on the wrong side, and asking the public to vote for NOTA. This will not do."
Asked about Bam's induction in the BJP, Sharma said, "We have purifiers and X-ray machines installed here. Nothing to worry about.''
