Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath on Saturday defended Varanasi District Magistrate Pranjal Yadav, who refused to give permission to Narendra Modi for a rally over alleged security reasons earlier this week. The CEC said the officer had made no mistake.
Denying reports that there was rift within the EC, Sampath said the decision to cancel the rally was unanimous. His assertion came a day after Election Commissioner HS Brahma indicated that there was difference of opinion in the Election Commission on the issue of denial of permission for the Modi rally. Sampath also ruled out transferring the Returning Officer from Varanasi constituency which goes to poll on Monday.
The BJP, however, said the decision to allow Rahul Gandhi to hold a roadshow in Varanasi was done for political reasons. Terming the refusal for Modi’s rally as a “big blot” on the electoral process, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said: “The (Rahul Gandhi) roadshow is happening at a place where we were denied permission for holding a rally. This proves that there was no security reason and it was because of political reasons that we were not allowed to hold the rally.”
He also said that the Election Commission has to live with the fact that whatever security reasons were there in Beniabagh that didn’t apply only to the BJP and but to other parties also.Clearing the air over the controversy, the CEC in an interview to a news agency and a private television channel dismissed BJP’s charge that the Election Commission was timid in taking decisions. He also rejected insinuations of bias in allowing roadshows by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav but denying permission to Narendra Modi for the same.
The CEC also refuted allegations of partisan approach in ordering filing of a complaint against Modi in Gandhinagar while seeking a report in case of Rahul Gandhi for alleged violation of voting secrecy in Amethi.
“The top leadership, comprising all three Commissioners, acts as a team and it is discharging its constitutional responsibilities with firmness. We also strongly deny that there are any differences among ourselves. All decisions, including the issue relating to Varanasi meeting venue, have been taken unanimously,” he said. The CEC said the Election Commission acted with full alacrity and after verifying ground realities from district administration, which were further verified at the level of the Chief Secretary and the DGP.
Asked about Brahma’s statement in media interactions on Friday about delays in conveying the decision on denial of permission to Modi and whether there was need for him to go public about it, Sampath said, “This is a question which you should ask him only. But as far as I am concerned, my relations with him have been excellent. We have been attending Commission meetings two days in a week. During elections, we sit together almost everyday. I can tell you we never have any disagreement which cannot be sorted out by discussion.”
Sampath also laid to rest the controversy over Rahul’s presence inside a polling booth in Amethi. He said, “Rahul was present inside the booth when a voting machine was malfunctioning. This was found after due investigations.”
“In Modi’s case (an FIR was filed against Modi for displaying his inked finger along with the BJP’s lotus symbol outside a polling booth in Gujarat after casting his vote even as polling continued across the State), the matter is clearly mentioned in the law. The issue is not of 100 metres (the area around the polling booth where no party symbols can be displayed), but of holding a Press conference in the poll area when the polling is on. This is in violation of Section 124 of Representation of Peoples Act,” he said.