BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi downplays Ajay Rai's act of wearing Congress badge during voting

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Monday said Congress candidate Ajay Rai's, wearing of his party's symbol inside the polling booth while voting was not a major factor for the BJP, which he claimed is set to win achieve a huge majority in the general elections.

"A party (BJP), which is winning with a huge majority should not bother about such small things. Let the Election Commission take care of it if it feels so. All we want is that the voters must be able to cast their ballots freely and peacefully," Joshi told media here.

Joshi asked: Everyone takes their hand into the poll booth, should we cut it off? Earlier, in the morning while casting his vote in Ramnagar, Rai was seen wearing the party symbol while casting his vote for the Lok Sabha polls.

On April 30, in a similar way, Narendra Modi had addressed a press conference immediately after he cast his vote at a school in the Ranip area of Ahmedabad, and had displayed a replica of the BJP's symbol, the lotus, during the event. This action of his drew severe criticism from the opposition and the Election Commission.