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Election Commission delivers sharp comeback to Congress on tweet attack
The Election Commission had initially proposed to hold the press conference to make the announcement at 12.30 pm but later deferred the event to 3 pm.
After the Congress tweeted an attack on the Election Commission for putting off the announcement of the poll schedule by a few hours, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat delivered a sharp comeback to the opposition party.
“Politicians and political parties have to see politics in everything because of their inherent nature,” Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said on Saturday afternoon before announcing the election schedule for the five states that go to polls.
The Election Commission had initially proposed to hold the press conference to make the announcement at 12.30 pm but later deferred the event to 3 pm.
The Congress insinuated that the delay was designed to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a free hand to make announcements at an election meeting that he was to address in Rajasthan’s Ajmer.
The model code of conduct, which kicks in as soon as the election commission announces the poll schedule, bars government functionaries from making any announcements that can influence voters.
“Independence of ECI?” tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala after pointing to the change in timing of the election commission’s press conference.
In debates on television channels, Congress leaders made a similar point
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told NDTV that the charge seemed to be “a little unfair” since the PM’s rally didn’t come out of the blue. And, he added, PM Modi didn’t really make an announcement at his rally.
But this is not the first time that the Congress has targeted the Election Commission over election dates. In October last year, the poll body had been criticised by opposition parties for delaying Gujarat elections. The Congress had claimed the delay was tailored to enable PM Modi to make more promises during a planned visit to his home state.
