Big parties buying their way to power: Mann

Alleging big-moneyed political parties are dominating the electoral process, SAD(A) chief S S Mann today said poorly-resourced but principled parties like his would have no option but to opt out of upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"I have written to the Election Commission that we will not be able to contest the coming Lok Sabha elections as we do not have huge funds to buy votes.
"Even though the expenditure limit for each constituency is fixed at a few lakhs, cash, drugs, liquor (and influence with) police and bureaucracy are needed to fight an election," Mann said.
Talking about the BJP, Mann alleged its newly-appointed election campaign chief Narendra Modi was pursuing a divisive agenda.

Referring to BJP's alliance with SAD (B), Mann said if Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD head Sukhbir Badal were true "nationalists", they would have followed Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and severed ties with the "anti-minority" BJP.