Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi on Sunday alleged that two BJP workers have been kidnapped by JMM supporters ahead of the Dumri bye-election.
The ruling JMM refuted the allegations terming it as "baseless".
The former chief minister while addressing media alleged that Mathura Soren and Jaiprakash Mandal have been kidnapped from Jaridih in Giridih district by JMM supporters.
Marandi also alleged that a BJP worker Nirmal Mahto was harassed by police by conducting repeated raids in the name of investigation in his private school in Nawadih of Bokaro district where some BJP workers were staying.
"JMM is scared due to increasing popularity of NDA candidate in Dumri bypoll. The state government wants to create an atmosphere of fear and influence the elections on the power of terror," he alleged.
Marandi said that he spoke to the Director General of Police of the state in this regard and demanded the release of the kidnapped BJP workers.
He also alleged, "Women in villages are being threatened that their ration cards will be cancelled if they vote for NDA." Marandi said that it is the responsibility of the administration to conduct fair and peaceful polling. "If any untoward incident happens, the state government will be completely responsible for it," he said.
Countering Marandi's allegations, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said, "Marandi alleges that two BJP workers were kidnapped and he talked to DGP in this regard. But, he is unable to say in which police station the case was lodged against the incident."
Bhattacharya, in a press meet, said, "This is nothing but an attempt to mislead the people of Dumri, as they have rejected the NDA." He said that Marandi is "speaking nonsense, as he understood that they are losing by a big margin". Campaigning for the September 5 bye-election to the Dumri assembly seat ended at 5 pm on Sunday.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren along with senior Congress leader and parliamentary affairs minister Alamgir Alam did a roadshow in the constituency and claimed that the I.N.D.I.A bloc will win the bypoll, which "will be a true tribute" to former minister Jagarnath Mahto.
The bye-election was necessitated due to the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the former education minister, in April. Mahto had been representing the seat since 2004.
The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate.
AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto and party's Giridih MP Chandraprakash Choudhary did a 'Padyatra' on the concluding day of campaigning.
The polling for the Dumri assembly seat will be held on September 5, while votes will be counted on September 8.