AAP, Maya question EC on poll schedule

Soon after Election Commission's decision to hold a press conference to announce Lok Sabha election dates on Sunday, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh pointed fingers at the national poll body accusing it of scheduling it keeping in mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programmes.

Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP and AAP's Political Affairs Committee member, tweeted, "Does the election Commission operate from the BJP office? In 2014, the election was announced on March 5. In the past five days, Modi has conducted several rallies and attended public functions. The announcement on election dates to come after Modi's speech in Ghaziabad."

In a separate tweet, BSP supremo Mayawati said with the EC announcement, there will be spared of Modi's "empty" announcements as the Model Code of Conduct will be in place. "With the announcement of much-awaited election dates for Lok Sabha elections, the code of conduct would become operational saving the country from Modi's empty promises and huge expenditures on government programs but the people have to be alert of other gimmicks," she said.

On May 4, senior Congress MP Ahmed Patel also raised questions on the EC. He had tweeted, "Is the Election Commission waiting for the Prime Minister’s “official” travel programs to conclude before announcing dates for General Elections?"

An official spokesperson earlier said the Election Commission would hold a press conference at 5 PM. Modi was scheduled to speak at CISF Raising Day function.

There was intense speculation about the Election Commission's press conference to announce the dates since March 1. There was also a flurry of official programmes attended by Modi and other Ministers in the past few days.

Soon after the Budget Session of Parliament was over on February 13, MPs also rushed to their constituencies to inaugurate projects which they had initiated. Several MPs have also circulated report cards and videos of their work as well as undertaking social media campaign.

Both central and state governments also gave out advertisements to newspapers in huge numbers. In Delhi on Sunday, one of the prominent newspapers carried 11 pages of advertisements given by central government and two pages of state governments, triggering a discussion on social media.