Congress urges EC to issue notice to BJP chief Shah
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of India (ECE) to issue a notice to BJP chief Amit Shah for a statement he had made in Telangana, which the opposition party alleged was aimed at creating a communal atmosphere in the poll-bound state.
Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal met EC officials and raised a number of issues, ranging from EVM-related complaints in Madhya Pradesh and Shah's statement to the arrest of the opposition party's working president in Telangana.
Notably, the BJP chief in his political rally on Sunday claimed that the Congress, in its manifesto for the December 7 polls, had promised "free electricity" to mosques and churches but not to temples.
Shah's statement in Telangana was absolutely false and misrepresented some points of the Congress's poll manifesto in the southern state, Sibal told reporters after meeting the EC officials.
The statement of the BJP chief was aimed at creating a communal atmosphere, he alleged, adding that the Congress had urged the poll watchdog to issue a notice to Shah for his remarks.
Sibal said that the other issue they raised with the EC was of the arrest of Telangana Congress working president A Revanth Reddy, who had called a "bandh" to protest against Telangana
Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and the state's caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's public meeting in the Kodangal Assembly constituency.
"He (Reddy) was arrested at 3 am and was not told why was he arrested. We requested (the EC officials) that such arrests should not be made during the time of elections," he said, adding that the other issue that was raised with the EC was of the Telangana chief minister calling a cabinet meeting and giving directions.
Nath said that the issue of complaints related to electronic voting machines (EVMs) at various places in Madhya Pradesh was also raised with the EC officials.
"We have demanded that action be taken against the officials at these places, from where such complaints are coming," the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief said.
