Jammu : The Election Commission has sought a report from the civil aviation ministry over the alleged deliberate delay in allowing Narendra Modi’s chopper to take off from Delhi, but has not received any complaint about Sonia Gandhi meeting the Jama Masjid Shahi Imam, poll panel chief V.S. Sampath said here Thursday.
Chief Election Commissioner Sampath said this while announcing that the voting hours for the Lok Sabha polls this time would be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On an allegation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about Congress president Sonia Gandhi meeting the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the CEC said: “We have not received such a complaint from the BJP so far.”
“The Election Commission will take cognizance of the complaint if we receive it. We generally take cognizance of such complaints only after these are received by us,” he said at a media conference here.
Sampath said a detailed report has been sought from the civil aviation ministry following a complaint by the BJP that prompt permission was not granted to Modi’s helicopter at the Delhi airport that delayed his reaching Bareilly to address a rally April 1.
“We have sought a detailed report from the civil aviation ministry about this complaint,” he said.
Sampath told reporters that voting hours for the Lok Sabha polls have been fixed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the first time in the electoral history of India.
He said this was done keeping in view the large number of voters who would be exercising their right to franchise.
The CEC put the number of voters in Jammu and Kashmir at 69.33 lakh. He said a total of 9,633 polling centres would come up in the state’s six Lok Sabha constituencies.
Sampath said he met leaders of many political parties of the state during his visit.
“They gave some suggestions. They also complained about some violations of the model code of conduct. We have taken these complaints seriously. Action has already been taken on some of the complaints,” he said.
The CEC said the poll panel had received a complaint against state Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo about the poll code violation. “We are looking into the complaint.”
Asked if the commission proposed to take any action against those seeking boycott of the polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Sampath said it was the duty of the poll panel to conduct free and fair elections and calling for a boycott was not new in Kashmir.
Election Commissioner Nasim Zaida, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi and state chief electoral officer Umang Narula were present at the media conference.
Earlier in the day, the commission met representatives of national and state parties, top police officials, and polling officers and asked for their feedback.