EC seeks Gehlot’s comment on complaint against Chidambaram

EC sought comments from Ashok Gehlot on the BJP complaint against P Chidambaram's alleged offering of poll sops during a recent visit to the state.

The Election Commission sought comments from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the BJP complaint against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s alleged offering of poll sops during a recent visit to the state. This was stated by Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash in New Delhi.

The EC had earlier issued a notice to Chidambaram following BJP’s complaint that the Minister during a visit to the state in the last week of March,had taken up electoral issues.

The complaint said the Home Minister talked about granting citizenship to displaced Hindus from Pakistan and additional facilities for passengers travelling by ‘Thar Express’.

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Replying to a question on Chidambaram making certain comments on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at a press conference held at PIB here,Prakash said the Commission had already advised Union ministers to avoid press conferences,as far as possible,in view of the polls to the Lok Sabha and certain assemblies and follow the practice of issuing press releases.

Taking on Modi,who had described the shifting of the IPL as a “national shame”,the Home Minister had said on March 23 that most people in India thought that the Gujarat communal riots of 2002 were a “national shame”.