Cong cries foul over Gujarat poll dates

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of putting pressure on the Election Commission (EC) to delay the announcement of polls in Gujarat to facilitate the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his home state on Monday.

“It is now clear that the Modi Government and the BJP are putting pressure on the EC to defer announcement of Gujarat election along with Himachal, to suit their political ends,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect the minute the Election Commission makes the announcement of elections in a particular state. “The reason is that the PM is visiting Gujarat on October 16 as a false Santa Claus to announce sops and ‘jumlas’ that he did not implement for 22 years,” Surjewala said.