Cong team meets poll panel ahead of voting

A day before the first phase of assembly election in Gujarat, a Congress delegation on Wednesday approached the Election Commission (EC) and raised concerns over the “safety of ballot boxes”, alleging that a decision was taken by election authorities not to provide paramilitary cover to the ballot boxes during the polls. The party also alleged that some news channels were airing opinion polls even before voting began.

Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha, who led the Congress delegation, told reporters: “We have information that a decision has been taken not to send paramilitary forces to protect the ballot boxes. We told the EC that we will share all the details. The EC told us to file a complaint quickly as voting for the first phase is on Thursday.”

Tankha also said they have information concerning the “safety of the ballot boxes” and urged the poll watchdog to

THE PARTY ALSO SAID SOME NEWS CHANNELS WERE AIRING OPINION POLLS BEFORE VOTING BEGAN

ensure there is no tampering.

While the party did not name any specific news channel, it alleged “violations by the media”. News channels are predicting the poll outcome in a bid to influence voters, it said in its memorandum to the EC, according to people familiar with the matter.

“We request this commission to utilise its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India to address the issue by passing immediate directions to the news channels,” it added.

HT reached out to an EC official for a comment but did not get one immediately.