Ahmed Patel questions delay in announcement of Lok Sabha dates
Raising questions on the Election Commission over the delay in the announcement of dates for the upcoming general elections, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Monday asked whether it was waiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "official" travel programme "to conclude". He further accused the EC of giving a long rope to the Narendra Modi-led government, to campaign at the cost of the state exchequer.
The senior Congress leader took to Twitter and said, "Is the Election Commission waiting for the Prime Minister's 'official' travel programmes to conclude before announcing dates for General Elections."
"Using government functions as an excuse for political rallies, flooding TV/radio and print with political ads. It is seems that EC is giving the government a long rope to campaign till the last moment using public money," he further wrote on Twitter.
For the general elections held in 2014, the dates for the polls were announced in the first week of March.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to his home state Gujarat, during which he will unveil a host of projects, including the first phase of the Ahmedabad metro service.
The Congress and the other opposition parties had earlier slammed the poll panel for the delayed announcement of the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections.
