Rohini alleges ‘fraud’ in Bengal polls, BJP hits back

Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya on Tuesday accused the BJP of winning the West Bengal assembly elections through what she described as “fraud and illegitimate tactics”, a charge strongly rejected by the saffron party. She also described former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as a “great fighter”, comparing her to the “Rani of Jhansi”.Rohini intensified her attack a day after Mamata suffered major setbacks in the assembly polls and also lost her own seat. “A lone fighter of a woman, truly the Rani of Jhansi of today’s era, against the Prime Minister, dozens of central ministers-chief ministers, hundreds of MPs-MLAs, lakhs of people gathered from across the country, a biased Election Commission, central agencies and security forces, and untold money, she fought the election,” Rohini wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.“Yet (they) had to resort to rigging-fraud to clinch the victory, had to take recourse to illegitimate tactics that shame the democratic system, all sorts of deceit-deceptions...” she alleged.Stating this was “not a defeat but a victory”, Rohini, who is based in Singapore, claimed Mamata fought to save democracy. “It is a victory for every voice raised to save democracy and a lesson in how much more strongly to fight ahead,” she added.The BJP said such allegations were made by the opposition after every electoral defeat. “They are questioning the results in West Bengal but why they are silent on Tamil Nadu where Stalin was their own ally?” state BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said, accusing the opposition of insulting the people’s mandate.“Of the total 90% polling in Bengal, more than 45% voters voted for the BJP but they are questioning the polling,” he said.