PANJIM: The Opposition Congress Party on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP are misusing government machinery for election campaigns.
Addressing a press conference, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Vice President Sunil Kawthankar said, “BJP is doing ‘Viksit Bharat’ campaign using government machinery. They had arranged a programme of Vikasit Bharat in Margao by inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had spent taxpayers’ money on it saying it was a government programme.”
He said, “Though it was a government programme, but it was evident that BJP was campaigning using taxpayers’ money. Why do they need our money, when they have a lot of money through electoral bonds?”
Stating that no government has used taxpayers’ money to campaign for the party, he said, “We condemn the use of taxpayers’ money for the campaign of the party.”
Kawthankar alleged that BJP raided some firms and extorted money from them through electoral bonds.
“Narendra Modi and BJP had promised to bring back black money from Swiss bank, which they failed to do. They tried to show that they are transparent, but in the case of electoral bonds, Modi tried to hide the data of State Bank of India (SBI). But we are thankful to the Supreme Court for exposing this scam of BJP,” Kawthankar said.
The BJP is sending messages of ‘Viksit Bharat’ using government platforms on mobile phones and emails, which is breach of privacy, he said.
“It is a breach of privacy. BJP’s campaign content is sent from the government’s platforms. Everyone should think over the issue. We will complain about this to the Election Commission. They can’t use the government’s platform when code of conduct is in force,” Kawthankar said.
