Chidambaram's criticism of EC part of 'save Rahul' campaign, says BJP

New Delhi: The BJP said on Friday that Congress leader P Chidambaram's criticism of the Election Commission for not announcing Gujarat poll dates was part of the party's 'save Rahul' campaign as it fears that a defeat in the election will stall his elevation to the post of party chief.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao defended the Election Commission's decision of not announcing the Gujarat poll dates with that of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly election, saying the Model Code of Conduct is expected to be in force for not more than 45 days and the election in the western state was expected in December. Rao's attack on the Congress came after Chidambaram took a swipe at the Election Commission (EC), saying it has authorised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce the date of Gujarat elections at his last rally.

"Chidambaram seems to view the EC from his jaundiced eyes. Sonia Gandhi, as an extra-constitutional authority, had subverted institutions and remote-controlled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. PM Modi is a quintessential democrat and does not interfere in the functioning of any institutions," Rao said.

The Congress' repeated attempts in raising questions about the EC is a desperate excuse and an alibi to shield Rahul Gandhi from the impact of an impending massive defeat in Gujarat, he alleged.

"This is part of the 'save Rahul' campaign as his cronies fear that Gujarat defeat will stall his never-happening, elusive elevation as the party president," Rao said. Accusing the Congress of "rank opportunism" and "hypocrisy", he said the same EC appeared neutral to the Congress when its decision favoured its senior leader Ahmed Patel's election to the Rajya Sabha.

The Election Commission, he said, needs to be complimented for not repeating the aberration in Gujarat election in 2012 when the duration of the code of conduct was an unusually and unreasonably high period of 83 days, he said.

"Whether that was a motivated decision, given the adversarial relationship between the then UPA and Gujarat government is a moot question," he said. In a series of tweets dripping with sarcasm, Chidambaram, the former finance and home minister, also claimed that the Election Commission will be "recalled" from its "extended holiday" after the Gujarat government has announced all "concessions and freebies".

New Delhi: Apparently targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday fired a fresh salvo at them over the controversy surrounding Amit Shah's son's company.

"Mitron (friends), will not speak about 'Shah-zada', nor will let anyone speak," he tweeted in Hindi, referring to an interim injunction granted by an Ahmedabad court on a criminal defamation plea filed against news portal 'The Wire' by Jay Shah, the son of BJP president Amit Shah.

Gandhi also tagged a news report entitled, "Ahmedabad Court injunction: 'The Wire' barred from writing on Jay Shah". Jay Shah had recently filed a criminal defamation case against The Wire after it published an article claiming the turnover of a company run by him saw a huge rise after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014.

An Ahmedabad court had on Monday restrained the portal from publishing or broadcasting reports based on the article published by it regarding Jay Shah's firm.

Both the Congress and its vice president Rahul Gandhi have repeatedly questioned Modi's "silence" on the issue.

Following the publication of the article, the Congress party demanded the removal of Amit Shah as BJP president and constitution of a two-member judicial commission of inquiry comprising judges of the Supreme Court to go into his son's business dealings.

Additional Senior Civil Judge of Ahmedabad (rural) court had granted an injunction on Jay Shah's plea on Monday.

The judge restrained the defendants from publishing, printing, telecasting, broadcasting or holding debates in any language on the issues mentioned in the article published by the news portal, pending the hearing and disposal of the matter. Zada, zade or zadi are Persian suffixes used as part of titles for members of royalty, denoting the sons and daughters of a king.