New Delhi: As Election Commission of India didn't find any violation of Model Code of Conduct in payment of funds by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Manipur government to the banned militant groups under Suspension of Operation, the Congress has decided to challenge the Election Commission's decision in the Supreme Court.
Taking to Twitter, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday that a petition would soon be filed in the top court against the decision of Election Commission.
In a tweet, the Congress leader said, "Shockingly, ECI held large payments to banned militant groups made on January 1, 2022 and March 1, 2022 by the Manipur government do not violate Model Code of Conduct. They do and I'm petitioning the Supreme Court. Payments were suddenly released during (the) poll period after (a) long gap. It murdered elections in 11 seats!"
The Congress had on Friday accused the BJP government in Manipur of taking help from banned militant organisations for the second phase of the state elections by releasing funds in two instalments for the banned outfit Kuki National Organisation.
A Congress delegation comprising of Ramesh and Salman Khurshid had met the Chief Election Commissioner and two election commissioners. The opposition party had alleged that these funds were not released for a long time but now it has been done to influence the polls. During the meeting, the Congress had also alleged that the banned Kuki organisation had started intimidating voters to support the BJP. The party leaders had accused the BJP government of releasing Rs 15.7 crore on February 1 and Rs 92.65 lakh on March 1 to banned militant groups under Suspension of Operation when the Model Code of Conduct was in effect in the state.