"INDI alliance afraid of people of Bihar": Chhattisgarh Dy CM Arun Sao mocks Jairam Ramesh over "Vote-Bandi" comment

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], July 3 : Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao mocked Congress MP Jairam Ramesh's 'Vote-Bandi' comment in Bihar and stated that the "baseless" and "unfounded" allegations showed that the INDI alliance and RJD were afraid of the people of Bihar and the upcoming elections in the state.
He further stated that the people of Bihar had not forgotten the jungle raj, corruption and the misdeeds of the family.
"Such baseless and unfounded allegations show that the INDI alliance and RJD are afraid of the people of Bihar and the upcoming elections... They have already accepted defeat. They are looking for reasons for their defeat. The people of Bihar have not forgotten the jungle raj, corruption, and the misdeeds of one family," Rao told ANI.
Earlier, taking a note that the Election Commission "undermined" the basis of the democratic system in the last six months, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh accused that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the poll body will "destroy" the country's democracy.
Ramesh, who is also Congress' General Secretary in charge of Communications, drew a parallel between the demonetisation in 2016 and SIR by the Election Commission, stating that the PM's 'notebandi' destroyed our economy and the ECI's 'VOTE-Bandi', as reflected in the SIR, will destroy our democracy.
In a post on X, Ramesh reflected on ECI's meeting with representatives from various political parties to discuss concerns regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
"Today, the INDIA delegation met the Election Commission on the subject of the Bihar Special Intensive Revision ('SIR'). The Election Commission was literally compelled to meet the delegation after having refused to do so. A few of us could not meet the ECI, which unilaterally imposed a limit of 2 representatives per party. I myself had to hang around in the waiting room for almost two hours," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP wrote on X.
Ramesh emphasised that ECI, as a constitutional body, cannot routinely refuse requests for a hearing from the Opposition and must abide by the principles and provisions of the Constitution. "Over the last six months, the ECI has conducted itself in a manner which undermines the very basis of our democratic system. The ECI is a constitutional body. It cannot routinely refuse requests for a hearing from the Opposition. It must abide by the principles and provisions of the Constitution."
"Most importantly, it cannot dictate arbitrary rules for interacting with political parties, such as deciding the designation of those attending or the number who can attend or who is or isn't an authorised person," he added.
"When the delegation rejected these new rules as arbitrary and confused, the Election Commission informed us this is a 'New' Commission. We shudder to think what this 'New' Commission's game plan is. How many more master strokes can we expect? "After the PM's 'notebandi' of November 2016 destroyed our economy, ECI's 'VOTE-Bandi' in Bihar and other states, as reflected in the SIR will destroy our democracy," Ramesh said.