BJD distributing cash among voters in BMC poll: Srikant Jena

BHUBANESWAR: Alleging extensive use of money by ruling BJD in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls being held today, senior Congress leader and Union Minister Srikant Jena said distribution of cash for votes posed a serious threat to democracy.

"The way money is being used to buy votes has posed a serious challenge and threat to the very fabric of democracy," the union minister for chemicals and fertilisers told reporters here.

"While BJD workers openly and blatantly distributed cash among the voters in different wards in the urban body area, the state election commission remained a helpless and mute spectator," he alleged.

Jena said that the use of money power by the ruling BJD has not only brought to the fore the role of black money in the election but also ruined the entire poll process.

The Union Minister's remark came a day after Congress formally lodged a complaint against BJD with the state election commission that it was distributing cash among voters.