Congress claimed that BJP has become 'super Election Commission'.
On Tuesday, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted the dates of the Karnataka elections roughly half an hour before the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule.
Malviya wrote on Twitter, before deleting the tweet: “Karnataka will vote on 12 May 2018, counting on 18 May 2018.”
Half an hour later, the Election Commission announced that the state will vote on May 12th, while the counting will be one May 15th. Malviya’s tweet had got half the information right. When asked about Malviya’s revelations, Chief Election Commission OP Rawat said that it was possible that ‘certain things maybe have leaked’, adding that it will be ‘investigated’.
A BJP-delegation led by union minister MA Naqvi met the EC to discuss the allegations. Speaking to the media, Naqvi played down the allegations stating that Malviya had gotten information from at TV channel.
He was quoted saying by ANI: “Amit Malviya's tweet was based on a TV channel's source. It had no intention to undermine the stature of EC. A Karnataka Congress leader had also tweeted the same thing. We agree that he (Malviya) shouldn't have tweeted it.”
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter: “Now that the BJP IT cell has announced Karnataka elections, time for a sneak preview of our top-secret campaign video! Gifted to us by the BJP President, our campaign in Karnataka is off to a fabulous start. He says Yeddyurappa ran the most corrupt Govt ever... True.”
CEC OP Rawat was quoted saying by ANI: “Certain things may have leaked for which Election Commission will take appropriate action. It will be investigated. Be assured that actions legally and administratively befitting will be taken.”
Congress reacted sharply to Malviya’s tweets. Congress in-charge communications Randeep Surjewala wrote: “BJP becomes the ‘Super Election Commission’ as they announce poll dates for Karnataka even before the EC. Credibility of EC is on test. Will EC now issue notice to BJP President, Amit Shah & register an FIR against BJP IT Head for leaking EC’s confidential information?”
Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote on Twitter: “EC has yet to announce but BJP Headquarters already knows. Amazing.” She later asked Malviya why he had ‘deleted his tweet’.
Meanwhile, Malviya claimed that he was quoting a news channel.
Another Twitter user Srivatsa, whose bio claims he’s the Karnataka Congress Social Media in-charge had also tweeted the dates before it was announced.
He wrote on Twitter: “For those asking me about my tweet on the poll dates, wasn't listening to the EC presser, saw local and national media flashing the dates and thought that it has been announced. Simple as that.”
The Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 12 and the votes will be counted on May 15, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat announced today. There will be a single phase election for the 224-member assembly, like the last time.
The notification for the polls will be issued on April 17 and the last date for filing of nomination will be April 24, Rawat said at a press conference. April 27 will be the last date of withdrawal of candidates, he added. All electronic voting machines will be linked to Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, he said.
To questions from reporters about the polling date being leaked even before he made the official announcement, Rawat said the poll panel will investigate the matter and take stringent legal and administrative action. The polls are being seen as politically crucial for Karnataka's ruling Congress as well as the BJP. It is the only big state where the Congress is in power after losing a string of assembly elections to the saffron party over the last few years. The BJP is making a concerted bid to unseat the Congress. The JD(S), led by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, is the third player in the fray.
With inputs from PTI
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