BELAGAVI: AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh have expressed concern about the conduct of Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.
Ramesh claimed that the elections to both the states were doctored and too much confusion took place in both the polls. “We (Congress) have lodged complaints about it, but they have not been taken seriously and have not been analysed effectively either.
The day before yesterday, I filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the amendments to the Conduct of Election Rule, 1961,” said Ramesh.
Briefing the media after the CWC meeting at Veera Soudhahere, Venugopal said so many memorandums were given to the EC to show our concern about the voters list.
“The transparency of the EC has vanished. We are concerned about the amendments to the rules done by the Centre. Elections are not being conducted transparently. The Maharashtra elections held recently were not at all free and fair,” he claimed.
Once again the Maharashtra and Haryana elections became a matter of discussion in the Congress party-fold.
The two leaders said the party hopes to take several political issues to the people across the country in the next one year, which include those related to the Election Commission.
When asked to elaborate on the complaints which the Congress has about the EC and whether there was a discussion regarding the recent loss of the party in the elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, Venugopal said, “There are many issues like voter lists, lack of transparency in elections, amendments in the election rules, and others. It is clear that the elections in Maharashtra were not free and fair,” Venugopal reiterated.
Hitting out at the BJP and RSS, while alleging that the two had been attacking Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar, Ramesh said the principles, teachings, and values of Gandhiji are under attack by the prime minister, home minister, RSS, and BJP. “We have decided to hold an AICC session in Gujarat in April, next year,” he said.