Elections in Bihar Tougher Than in Kashmir: Rao
Patna: October 23, 2005
K. J. Rao, the special advisor to the Election Commission (EC) who is on duty in Bihar to monitor the state Assembly elections, in an interview on Saturday, said that holding elections in Bihar was even tougher than holding elections in the terrorists-torn Jammu and Kashmir but he intended to fulfill his duty irrespective of criticisms from certain political parties.
"In Kashmir, we had to worry only about the terrorists. In Bihar, we have to worry about too many things including widespread violence, the problem of bogus voters, and politicians' attempt to capture booths," Rao said.
Calling it a challenge of his life, Rao said he was determined to hold elections in Bihar in the most free and fair manner despite criticism leveled against him for being too tough or even of 'breaking laws'.
When asked if he was afraid of his life in Bihar, Rao shrugged it off by saying everything was in the hands of the God. "Whatever has to happen will happen but duty is duty and I cannot shirk away from my responsibilities just because certain sections of the politicians hate my guts," Rao said.
"This is all about doing the right thing. We got rid of 20 lakh bogus voters from the voters' list and managed to hold elections without any untoward incident in areas affected by Naxalites and other extremists," Rao said in response to a question if the EC was acting a little too tough in Bihar.
When asked about the allegations made against him including helping the NDA win elections, Rao said he would rather not comment on such 'baseless charges".
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