EC should instruct Central govt to present budget only after polling is completed: Mayawati

Seeking strict compliance of model code of conduct in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, on 4 January, asked the Election Commission to instruct the Central government to present the general budget only after the completion of polling in all the five states going to polls in the country.

"The Election Commission should instruct the Central government not to present the general budget on February 1 and just as 2012, it be presented only after the completion of polling process on 8 March," Mayawati said in a party release issued.

"Voters can be influenced through the budget and thereby free and fair elections can be effected," Mayawati stressed.

The BSP president also asked the EC to maintain a strict eye on rivals BJP, SP and Congress and ensure strict compliance of the model code of conduct as these parties are in the habit of "flouting" the code, as had been experienced in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Welcoming the decision to hold seven-phased elections in UP, Mayawati alleged that the states police and machinery had been used for political purposes by the Akhilesh Yadav government and there were chances that it could be misused by the caretaker government as well.

To check any misuse of the police and administration by the care-taker government, there is a need to deploy central forces as much as possible and keep a strict eye on the local police, she said.

Mayawati said that her party will contest the Assembly polls in Uttarakhand and Punjab besides Uttar Pradesh on its own.

-PTI