The Congress is considering lodging a complaint with the Election Commission about not announcing the dates of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections together, saying it is a violation of the principle that all parties have a level playing field.
Lashing out at the Modi government for resorting to “shameless pressure tactics” on the autonomous body and denigrating its authority and power, senior Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged that within 10 minutes of the Election Commission announcing the dates of the Himachal Pradesh elections, the Gujarat government announced sops worth hundreds of crores.
“... the Gujarat government on Thursday declared a slew of sops aimed at wooing agitating Patidars, the Valmiki community, lakhs of government employees and the powerful builder lobby. Why was it in such a tearing hurry,” he asked.
Cleared in a hurry
Mr. Singhvi said that anticipating the announcement of the election dates for Gujarat on Thursday afternoon, and the consequent enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the BJP-ruled Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) advanced its standing committee meeting by an hour-and-a-half to clear proposals estimated at Rs. 530 crore in just 10 minutes.
“The anomaly of announcing elections in Himachal Pradesh first, and not announcing the elections in Gujarat, casts a serious shadow of suspicion on the workings of the Election Commission,” he said.
“The frenzied, desperate and last-minute attempt by the BJP to force this change so as to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce various sops like a Santa Claus in Gujarat on October 16; this speaks volumes about how the BJP is staring at a complete decimation in Gujarat.”
He also pointed out, that barring 2002-2003 (due to the Gujarat riots), the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have held elections together since 1998.
Earlier this year, he added, when Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand went to polls together, their poll schedule, spread over a month from February 4 to March 8, was announced on January 4.
‘Unfortunate move’
He also quoted a “reputed former Election Commissioner” who has termed the EC’s decision as against the “spirit of simultaneous polls,” and said, “they must have some good reasons to justify this. Mr. Modi’s visit to Gujarat next week creates a ground of suspicion, and it’s unfortunate.”
He found it odd that the BJP which was advocating holding all State and Central elections simultaneously was so loath to hold just two elections together.
‘EC under pressure’
Mr. Singhvi said the BJP “is trying its best to influence the functioning of the Election Commission. Just like it belittled the authority of the RBI, the judiciary, and other important institutions, it is trying to pressurise the EC. We demand that the dates of Gujarat polls be announced and Model Code of Conduct be immediately enforced.”