New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The Congress today attacked theBJP for denigrating the authority of the Election Commissionand alleged that "past practices, conventions and precedents"were being set aside to help the ruling party in Gujarat.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi accused the BJP ofpressure tactics to convert the Election Commission to"Election Omission" and said the party wanted to woo thepeople of Gujarat with some last-minute sops.
The party also demanded that the Gujarat polls beannounced immediately and the Model Code of Conduct imposed.
"In a last-ditch effort to save itself from the thrashingwhich it will receive from the hands of the people ofGujarat in the forthcoming elections, the BJP has resorted toshameless pressure tactics on the EC and has most blatantlydenigrated the authority and power of the ElectionCommission," he told reporters.
He alleged that a "drowning man is desperately clutchingat straws" to announce populist sops on October 16, whenPrime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit his homestate.
"We would like to strongly point that BJP is trying itsbest to influence the functioning of the Election Commission.
Just like it belittled the authority of the RBI, judiciary,and other important institutions, it is trying to pressurizethe EC."The Election Commission "it seems has handed a rope tothe BJP to somehow climb the cliff, at a time when the BJP isdown and out and is looking to somehow lure the electoratewith sops", Singhvi said in a statement.
The statement added that "past practices, conventions andprecedents are being set aside to help the BJP".
The state government and the Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC) made some big announcements for varioussections a few hours before the Election Commission announceddates for the Himachal Pradesh election, he said.
"This is bribery. This is collective or attemptedbribery."Singhvi also took a dig at the prime minister, asking whysimultaneous elections were not declared for Himachal andGujarat when he had been talking about holding simultaneouspolls for all states across the country.
The Congress leader said the Gujarat government declareda slew of sops aimed at wooing agitating Patidars, the Valmikicommunity, lakhs of government employees and the powerfulbuilder lobby and asked, "Why was it in such a hurry?"He also alleged that the BJP-ruled AMC advanced itsstanding committee meeting by an hour and a half to clearproposals worth Rs 530 crore in just 10 minutes and asked whyit did so.
The anomaly of announcing elections in Himachal Pradeshfirst and not announcing the elections in Gujarat casts aserious shadow of suspicion on the workings of the ElectionCommission, he said, accusing the BJP of being the "biggestculprit to break this time tested convention".
"The frenzied, desperate and last minute attempt by theBJP to force this change so as to enable Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announce various sops like a 'fake' Santa Clausin Gujarat on October 16, speaks volumes about how the BJP isstaring at a complete decimation in Gujarat," he said.
Both states have held elections together since 1998(except in 2002-03, due to riots in Gujarat), Singhvi said,wondering why the time for enforcement of model code ofconduct was reduced this time.
He also cited examples in the past when elections tovarious states were announced together. PTI SKC ENMMIN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.