New Delhi:
The Election Commission, which had sought a detailed report yesterday on whether Rahul Gandhi violated rules by entering the area where votes are actually cast in polling booths in his Amethi constituency, said today that no case of violating voting secrecy was made out against the Congress vice-president.
"Gandhi had gone to see the machine which was not working. When he went there, there was no polling going on. No case is made out," Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said.
Other parties had alleged that Mr Gandhi inspected Electronic Voting Machines, or EVMs, in three polling booths as Amethi voted last Wednesday. The Congress' Abhishek Singhvi said today that Mr Gandhi was "inspecting a non-functional EVM." (King can do no wrong': BJP references Rahul Gandhi to attack Election Commission)
Pictures of Mr Gandhi entering the special enclosure earmarked for the EVMs were posted on Twitter by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has fielded one of its senior leaders, Kumar Vishwas against the Congress number 2. (India Votes 2014: Full Coverage)
The pictures were also widely published. The BJP had leveraged the reports to accuse the Election Commission of acting in a partisan manner. A party delegation led by M Venkaiah Naidu had met VS Sampath and alleged that there was no action against the Congress leader, while the Election Commission had reacted with alacrity while ordering cases against the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and ally N Chandrababu Naidu for other alleged violations. (Rahul Gandhi in Trouble for Allegedly Saying '22,000 Will Be Killed If BJP Wins')
Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath had, while addressing a rare press conference in the middle of elections, conceded Mr Gandhi's presence in the special enclosures in Amethi, and said that the Commission was examining whether his actions had violated laws relating to secrecy of voting. (Going to Voting Machine Not Allowed, Says Election Commission After AAP Tweets Against Rahul Gandhi)
The Election Commission had sought a report from the district magistrate-cum-returning officer of Amethi and the returning officer had filed his report yesterday.
Mr Gandhi, a two-term MP from Amethi, is in tough contest against popular TV actor Smriti Irani of the BJP and Mr Vishwas.
"Gandhi had gone to see the machine which was not working. When he went there, there was no polling going on. No case is made out," Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said.
Other parties had alleged that Mr Gandhi inspected Electronic Voting Machines, or EVMs, in three polling booths as Amethi voted last Wednesday. The Congress' Abhishek Singhvi said today that Mr Gandhi was "inspecting a non-functional EVM." (King can do no wrong': BJP references Rahul Gandhi to attack Election Commission)
Pictures of Mr Gandhi entering the special enclosure earmarked for the EVMs were posted on Twitter by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has fielded one of its senior leaders, Kumar Vishwas against the Congress number 2. (India Votes 2014: Full Coverage)
The pictures were also widely published. The BJP had leveraged the reports to accuse the Election Commission of acting in a partisan manner. A party delegation led by M Venkaiah Naidu had met VS Sampath and alleged that there was no action against the Congress leader, while the Election Commission had reacted with alacrity while ordering cases against the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and ally N Chandrababu Naidu for other alleged violations. (Rahul Gandhi in Trouble for Allegedly Saying '22,000 Will Be Killed If BJP Wins')
Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath had, while addressing a rare press conference in the middle of elections, conceded Mr Gandhi's presence in the special enclosures in Amethi, and said that the Commission was examining whether his actions had violated laws relating to secrecy of voting. (Going to Voting Machine Not Allowed, Says Election Commission After AAP Tweets Against Rahul Gandhi)
The Election Commission had sought a report from the district magistrate-cum-returning officer of Amethi and the returning officer had filed his report yesterday.
Mr Gandhi, a two-term MP from Amethi, is in tough contest against popular TV actor Smriti Irani of the BJP and Mr Vishwas.
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