<p class="title">The Congress on Monday accused the Election Commission of delaying the announcement of the general elections to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conclude his "official" tours.</p>.<p class="title">Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also hit out at Modi for using official machinery and public money to fuel his election campaign through rallies and political advertisements.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Using government functions as an excuse for political rallies, flooding TV, radio and print with political ads, it is seems that the EC is giving the government a long rope to campaign till the last moment using public money," Patel said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Is the Election Commission waiting for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'official' travel programmes to conclude before announcing dates for the general elections," said Patel, the treasurer of the Congress party.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 2014, the general elections were announced on March 5 by the then chief election commissioner V S Sampath.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Over the past couple of weeks, Modi has been maintaining a tight schedule inaugurating projects and laying foundation stones at various locations across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Sunday, he was in Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's constituency, to announce projects to the tune of Rs 538 crore and the launch of a ordnance factory unit to manufacture the iconic Kalashnikov rifles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Monday, Modi was in Jamnagar to inaugurate a hospital, lay the foundation stone of a water desalination plant and launch an irrigation project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Later, he was in Ahmedabad to flag off the first phase of a metro rail project and preside over a ceremony related to a temple complex.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, the prime minister is scheduled to launch a pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector. He is expected to be in Chennai on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Friday, he will visit Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Varanasi to lay the foundation stones for a Rapid Rail Transit System and the Kanpur Metro.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The foundation stone for the Nagpur metro will be laid through video conference. Modi is also scheduled to address a public meeting in Varanasi.</p>
<p class="title">The Congress on Monday accused the Election Commission of delaying the announcement of the general elections to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conclude his "official" tours.</p>.<p class="title">Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also hit out at Modi for using official machinery and public money to fuel his election campaign through rallies and political advertisements.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Using government functions as an excuse for political rallies, flooding TV, radio and print with political ads, it is seems that the EC is giving the government a long rope to campaign till the last moment using public money," Patel said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Is the Election Commission waiting for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'official' travel programmes to conclude before announcing dates for the general elections," said Patel, the treasurer of the Congress party.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 2014, the general elections were announced on March 5 by the then chief election commissioner V S Sampath.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Over the past couple of weeks, Modi has been maintaining a tight schedule inaugurating projects and laying foundation stones at various locations across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Sunday, he was in Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's constituency, to announce projects to the tune of Rs 538 crore and the launch of a ordnance factory unit to manufacture the iconic Kalashnikov rifles.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Monday, Modi was in Jamnagar to inaugurate a hospital, lay the foundation stone of a water desalination plant and launch an irrigation project.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Later, he was in Ahmedabad to flag off the first phase of a metro rail project and preside over a ceremony related to a temple complex.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Tuesday, the prime minister is scheduled to launch a pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector. He is expected to be in Chennai on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Friday, he will visit Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Varanasi to lay the foundation stones for a Rapid Rail Transit System and the Kanpur Metro.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The foundation stone for the Nagpur metro will be laid through video conference. Modi is also scheduled to address a public meeting in Varanasi.</p>
