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The District Magistrate of North West Delhi refuted the Congress party's allegations that the party's candidate Sushant Mishra was "attacked and injured" by an officer of the Election Commission of India and was stopped from carrying out a foot march.
The Congress leader called the alleged incident an "unprecedented and illegal act" and accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of being "desperate" to stop the Congress candidate's growing support. Terming it a "partisan behaviour", the party has demanded a thorough investigation into the incident and that action be taken against the concerned official. "This unprecedented and illegal act can only be seen as a desperate attempt by the AAP and BJP to stop Sushant's candidature and the growing support for the Congress party. But we are not afraid. We will continue to raise the voice of the people and protect the sanctity of our elections," Ramesh said. "Sushant Mishra has been actively raising cases of violations of the Model Code of Conduct by other candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections. This is clearly a case of partisan behaviour by an officer of a constitutional body like the Election Commission," read a post by the Congress leader. https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1883443674828415326 Responding to the allegations made by Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, North West Delhi DM said that the Flying Squad Teams (FST) and election staff are conducting their duties "fairly and impartially to ensure a level playing field." "Regarding claims of disagreement or partiality, the team confirms that no such matter occurred and the FST team operated in unbiased manner. Further, when asked for the campaign permission, the organizers initially did not respond but discussed among themselves for 10-15 minutes before dispersing," the DM stated. According to the DM, the Congress party had not obtained the proper permissions, mentioning that the permission that Ramesh had shown on social media only was for door-to-door canvassing from the area A-953, Friends Properties, Budh Vihar Phase-2 to Gali No 15, whereas the party members were campaigning in Gali no 25, and beyond the permitted time. "However, the campaigning was taking place in Gali No. 25, which was not covered under the stated permission. Additionally, the permission from the police authorities (Permission Cell) indicated campaigning was allowed only until 6:00 PM, but the activity continued beyond this time when the FST team requested the permission copy," read the DM's reply. The DM has said that when asked about the campaign permission from the party members, they did not present the proper documents, only discussed among themselves and dispersed. The Delhi Assembly Elections are scheduled to be held on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. (ANI)
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