The senior leaders in the BJP, MNS and Congress from several districts of Beed, Konkan and Nashik have complained to the state election commission against the NCP flexing its muscle to intimidate their candidates.
On Monday, BJP candidate Dashrath Vanwe in Beed district was attacked by NCP workers.
"First, the NCP leaders drove their Scorpio through a BJP rally to disturb the campaign. Later, a handful of NCP workers attacked Vanwe with swords. They are openly walking around with weapons intimidating the people against voting for BJP candidates," said Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson.
Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde called home minister RR Patil to complain against the police in the district who refused to lodge a complaint despite the violence.
In a letter, the BJP has urged state election commission Neela Satyanarayan to declare Beed a sensitive district.
Sources in Election Commission said: "We have got letters from Congress leaders complaining against the NCP's highhandedness in the Konkan region."
The MNS too lodged its complaints against NCP candidates in Nashik.
The election commission has asked district observers to closely monitor the activities.
Home minister RR Patil said: "Our party does not advocate violence. We are for free and fair elections. Anybody who takes law and order in his hand will be firmly dealt with."
Patil has assured the party that he would to look into the Beed incident. A close associate of industries minister Narayan Rane said, "The NCP is trying to misuse the government machinery to its advantage. The home department is turning a blind eye."
NCP state president Madhukar Picchad said the party has been victims of malicious campaigns in the past elections. "At the outset, any instance of violence in the elections cannot be justified. There is a definite design by our rivals to tarnish the NCP's image," he said.
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