Shimla: Expressing concern over incidents of "booth capturing and rigging" in the latest phase of polling in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, BJP general secretary J P Nadda on Monday urged the Election Commission to take appropriate steps to ensure free and fair polls in the remaining two phases.
Addressing a press conference here, Nadda said, "There is a fear that?some political parties may resort to booth capturing in the remaining two phases of polling. It is imperative for the Election Commission to step in and allay our fears."
"We have given video recording of an instance of rigging in Uttar Pradesh where a single person cast 20 votes during the polling?on April 30 to the Chief Election Commissioner and demanded prompt action," Nadda added.
Slamming Congress, Nadda said that the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh are both ridden with mega scams and afraid of the popularity of BJP`s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
"We have made it clear that those who are involved in corruption and scams should fear Modi and not the innocent and law abiding citizens," he quipped.
Defending Amit Shah who had said that Azamgarh is a "base of terrorists", Nadda said it is a nationalist statement as cells of banned SIMI are active in Azamgarh.
Nadda also accused the UPA government of reducing import duty on apple causing loss to the local apple growers and assured them that the issue would be resolved after BJP formed the next government at the Centre.
"To sustain farm economy, farmers would be given 50 per cent profit on cost of production as recommended by the Swaminathan Committee," he added.
