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. The Opposition INDIA bloc kickstarted its election campaign from Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park today. Today morning, before the rally, Rahul Gandhi led a Nyay Sankalp Padyatra from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan, marking the end of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, while speaking at the event said that BJP people are “afraid of ”Gandhi” in Rahul Gandhi’s name”. “…You (Rahul Gandhi) have Gandhi in your name and the BJP is scared of it. Today, I can see people with different thoughts and ideas here, let me tell you this is ‘India.’ The election is all set to begin; the public has the most powerful weapon of the Constitution and that is the ‘vote.’….” she 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.
