MUMBAI — In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre, National Conference Chief and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah on Sunday took a swipe, saying that the Election Commission would become “independent” after the opposition bloc- INDIA will form the government.
Speaking at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ on Sunday, the NC leader also asked people to “check the paper and verify their vote” as he termed the electronic voting machine a ‘thief’.
“The first Bharat Jodo Yatra started from Kanniyakumari and ended in Kashmir. It was snowing in Kashmir and many of the members had never seen snow in their lives… This is our India… You have to protect your votes because the machine (EVM) is a thief. When you cast your vote, check the paper and verify your vote… When the INDIA Alliance will form the government, this machine will end. Secondly, the Election Commission will become independent…” Farooq said.
On Saturday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day-old ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ here by paying tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar at his memorial ‘Chaityabhoomi’ in central Mumbai and reading the Preamble of the Constitution.
The yatra, a mass outreach movement ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, had commenced from strife-torn Manipur on January 14. — (ANI)