A day after his controversial appeal to voters to take cash if offered by a rival party for its rally but to vote for BJP, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday tried to undo the damage. He advised voters that they should not fall prey to greed during elections and that voting is a 'pure offering'.
"Please do not fall for any greed. Voting is a pure deed and the relationship with a political party is a pure relationship. The government is for the next generation. While electing a government, you have to decide what the new government will give us," Mr. Parrikar told a poll rally in the Porvorim assembly constituency near here on Monday late evening.
On Sunday, addressing a corner meeting in the Chimbel slum near here, on the eve of Rahul Gandhi's rally, he had said, “I understand if someone organises a rally and you take ₹500 for moving around with (the candidate), that is not a problem. But when you vote, choose the lotus (BJP's poll symbol). This you must remember."
Already a complaint has been filed with the Election Commission against Mr. Parrikar’s speech on Sunday, by a regional party, Goa Forward, which in its plaint to the Chief Electoral Officer in Goa has said that if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been booked for asking voters to accept bribes from candidates, then an FIR should be booked against Mr. Parrikar too.
