New Delhi: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge issued an appeal to the country's bureaucrats -- who play a key role in the counting of votes -- asking them to serve the nation without fear. His appeal come on the heels of the allegation by party's senior leader Jairam Ramesh, that Union Home minister Amit Shah had called up 150 district officers ahead of tomorrow's counting of votes and attempted to intimidate them.
"Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any Unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day," Mr Kharge wrote in the open letter he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"Independence of the institutions is paramount, for every civil servant takes oath of the Constitution that they 'will faithfully and conscientiously discharge their duties and will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will'," he said.
"In this spirit we expect every bureaucrat and officer – from top to bottom of the hierarchy, to discharge their duties in the spirit of the Constitution, without any coercion, threat, pressure or intimidation either from the ruling party/coalition or from the opposition party/coalition," the Congress chief wrote.
Jairam Ramesh's allegations had brought him under the scanner of the Election Commission, which has asked him to back up his allegations with evidence. "No DM has reported any such undue influence as alleged by you," the Commission has said.
"It is requested that details of 150 DMs to whom such calls have been allegedly made by the Home Minister along with the factual matrix/ basis of your information are shared," the Commission said.
"You being a responsible, experienced and very senior leader of a National Party must have made such public statement, just before the day of counting, based on facts/ information you believe to be true," the Commission wrote.
Mr Ramesh's request for more time to do the needful has been rejected.
The Congress has rubbished the exit polls, all of which have predicted a BJP victory. Three exit polls have predicted that the NDA would manage to cross the 400-seat mark.