Azad to lodge complaint of “coercion” with President, ECI

IPS official threatened MLA: “If you don’t abstain or vote for BJP, CBI will reopen Srinagar sex scam case”

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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JAMMU, Feb 8: Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was elected on one of the four vacant seats for the Upper House from Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, is lodging a written complaint with the President of India as well as the Election Commission of India against a senior Indian Police Service [IPS] officer for an alleged attempt of “coercion and intimidation” in the February 7^th election. The IPS officer had allegedly attempted to intimidate an independent MLA for the purpose of seeking his vote for the ruling BJP.

Sources privy to the purported development disclosed to Authintmail that the senior Police official had established contact with an independent MLA and made it clear to him that that the CBI would be “forced” to reopen the case of his alleged involvement in the infamous Srinagar Sex Scandal of 2006 on the basis of a direction of the Division Bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Name of the MLA, who also functioned as a Cabinet Minister in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP-Congress coalition government in 2002-2005, figures among the 15 persons whose involvement in the sex scandal had been mentioned by some victims and witnesses during their statements before the investigators and a judge. However, the CBI did not act on the direction, concluded the investigation and filed the chargesheets against a select group of the accused who included senior officials, legislators and two former Ministers.

Exactly when different political parties were making strenuous efforts to rope in two particular independent MLAs holding key to Mr Azad’s victory or defeat, a senior Police official allegedly advised one or both the members to either abstain from the voting or vote for a BJP candidate. This would have obviously ensured Mr Azad’s defeat and victory of the BJP candidate.

However, as soon as one of the two MLAs narrated the whole story to senior Congress leader and expressed his helplessness, Mr Azad attempted to ensure him that the CBI could not reopen a closed criminal case until there were substantial evidences or a direction from the Supreme Court of India like in an old matter against the BJP leader Amit Shah. Even Mr Shah was later exonerated by the court.

The visibly perturbed MLA, according to sources, was not satisfied. Thereupon, late on Friday night, Mr Azad called senior Supreme Court of India advocate KTS Tulsi who assured him on telephone from New Delhi that CBI could not be “forced” by any authority to reopen the closed criminal case against the J&K legislator. Thereafter, the MLA decided to vote for Mr Azad.

In order to ensure that there was no fresh attempt to intimidate or bribe the MLA or cause his absence, Mr Azad immediately issued a statement threatening to expose the “senior IPS officers” and get them punished under law of the land. He alleged in the statement that the BJP was adopting “unethical and undemocratic methods for coaxing, cajoling and coercing” the J&K legislators to seek their vote. He said such a tendency to “manipulate and subvert the democratic process is illegitimate, undemocratic and unethical.”

Mr Azad added: “The way MLAs are being chased by the leaders of so-called party with a difference, has exposed its democratic credentials. The way a section of top officials of the State, especially senior IPS officers are being used to garner support for BJP candidates in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections, is unprecedented and dangerous for the normal functioning of the democratic process in the State.  I know the officers who are chasing the MLAs to seek support for the BJP and their names will be forwarded to the Election Commission of India and the Governor.”

Bureaucratic sources disclosed that Mr Azad’s statement created ripples in the Prime Minister’s Office which took a serious note. As part of the damage control exercise, senior officials in Ministry of Home Affairs and the Central intelligence agencies were directed to ensure that nobody made any interference with the conduct of the Rajya Sabha elections in the politically sensitive northern border State where the common people have reposed faith in the democratic processes and institutions with their massive participation in the recent Assembly elections.

“Clear instructions were passed to all the security and intelligence agencies that they should refrain from resorting to any sort of horse-trading or influence on the independent MLAs for the crucial Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir”,  a New Delhi datelined report in Greater Kashmir, quoting highly placed but unnamed “sources in Government of India” said.

“They said that it was generally believed that the independent MLAs could be influenced in order to secure votes for BJP candidates. However, Prime Minister’s Office had about two days back issued directives to the agencies. They were asked not to use any kind of influence even if BJP leadership in the State wanted them t0”, said the report quoting anonymous sources

BJP calls it rubbish

The BJP spokesperson in J&K Khalid Jehangir dismissed Mr Azad’s allegation as “rubbish”, claiming credit that the BJP under Narendra Modi’s leadership had restored sanctity and credibility of the Indian democratic process after a long time.

“Rigging the polls, bribing and intimidating the candidates and the voters and misusing the official machinery have been all characteristic of the Congress in the last over 60 years. Be that 1972, 1977 or 1989, polls in J&K were rigged and manipulated only by Congress. Even in the previous Rajya Sabha elections, it was Congress that misused the official machinery”, Mr Jehangir asserted. He said that levelling unsubstantiated allegations, that could undermine the credibility of the democratic institutions in J&K, was not expected from a leader of Mr Azad’s stature and seniority. “Had the BJP used such influences, we could have swept the Assembly polls in Kashmir valley. The BJP government made it a point that there was no interference from any agency”.

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