NEW DELHI: Congress on Sunday accused Election Commission officials of attacking its Rithala assembly candidate.
Congress candidate Sushant Mishra said that poll officials tried to stop him from taking out a padyatra with permission without introduce themselves
“We (Congress) were taking out a padyatra with permission. Suddenly Election Commission officials came there who did not introduce themselves at that time. Hiding their identity, they tried to stop our march,” the Congress candidate told news agency ANI.
“This is a very sad incident…We have complained about the matter and the complaint has also been given to the Election Commission,” he added.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called the polling body and said that the incident is a “case of partisan behaviour” of a Constitutional body
In a social media post on X, Ramesh said, “Congress Rithala assembly candidate Sushant Mishra was attacked and injured by an officer of Election Commission yesterday. The officer also tried to stop him from taking out a padyatra, for which the Delhi Police had already given permission.”
“Sushant Mishra has been actively raising cases of violations of the Model Code of Conduct by other candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections. This is clearly a case of partisan behaviour by an officer of a constitutional body like the Election Commission,” he added.
Meanwhile, the district magistrate of North-West Delhi called the allegations “baseless” and said that election staff are conducting their duties fairly and impartially to ensure a level playing field.
Replying to Ramesh’s post, official account of the District Magistrate of North-West Delhi said, “The allegation of biasness is baseless, as all FST teams and election staff are conducting their duties fairly and impartially to ensure a level playing field for all contesting candidates and as per the mandate of ECI.”
According to DEO, the Congress had permission to only do door-to-door canvassing, Friends Properties, Budh Vihar Phase-2 to Gali No. 15, however, the campaigning was taking place at Gali no 25, and continued till after the allowed time of 6pm.
“Upon arrival at the site, it was observed that one INC Party was campaigning in Gali No 25, Shyam Colony, Budh Vihar Phase-2. The FST head requested the campaign organizer to provide a copy of the permission for the activity, but it was not presented,” DEO said.
“The permission document referenced in the tweet (No. 28AC15415) allowed door-to-door canvassing from A-953, Friends Properties, Budh Vihar Phase-2 to Gali No 15. However, the campaigning was taking place in Gali No 25, which was not covered under the stated permission,” the post added.