Letter to EC seeks 'ban' on removing burqas of women voters

A missive by Samajwadi Party (SP) Uttar Pradesh chief Shyam Lal Pal to the Election Commission (EC) regarding Muslim women voters has sparked off a major controversy with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing it of communalising and vitiating the electoral atmosphere in final hours ahead of state Assembly by-polls slated for November 20.

BJP called it a fresh attempt to polarise



the minority community and said that their gameplan stands exposed now while RJD sought to put the ball in PM’s court.

Shyam Lal Pal, the SP UP chief in his letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday, urged that the poll panel should issue directions to its officers and police personnel that they won’t remove Muslim women’s burqas for identity verification during voting.