Kishan Reddy questions Rahul’s remarks on Election Commission

metro india news  I HYDERABAD | DELHI

The political confrontation over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) intensified on Friday, with Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy questioning Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the poll panel and alleged that the Congress tends to question the Election Commission when electoral results do not go in its favor. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of electoral irregularities and accused the opposition party of undermining public confidence in constitutional institutions. 

The Minister said the Election Commission is an independent constitutional body and rejected the charge that the Union government had interfered in its functioning. He also challenged Congress to substantiate its allegations concerning electoral rolls and the SIR process. Kishan Reddy cited Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal while arguing that the results did not demonstrate a uniform electoral advantage for the BJP from the revision exercise. These are political arguments advanced by the BJP rather than an independent determination of whether the electoral-roll process was properly conducted.