Modi bribed, threatened Varanasi voters; why EC not keeping an eye on it: Mayawati

Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday alleged that Narendra Modi bribed and threatened voters in Varanasi and questioned why the Election Commission is not keeping an eye on the parliamentary constituency like in West Bengal.

In a Hindi tweet, Mayawati claimed that outsiders are luring and threatened people in Varanasi to vote for the Prime Minister who is seeking re-election from the Lok Sabha seat.

Her tweet roughly translates to, "How can free and fair polls be held Varanasi if efforts are being made to ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in every situation through outsiders by first luring people and then threatening them? Why is Election Commission not keeping an eye on Varanasi like in West Bengal?"

Mayawati's latest barb adds to the war of words between Modi and the former chief minister. While the BSP leader has time and again accused Modi and his party of not fulfilling poll promises of 204, Modi has termed her alliance with Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal as 'mahamilavat'.

Polling will be held in Varanasi and twelve other seats of Uttar Pradesh in the seventh and the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday. The result will be announced on May 23.

Modi defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal from the seat in 2014 by a margin of over 3 lakh votes.

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