In a sharp outright rejection of allegations made by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called up district magistrates after voting for the Lok Sabha elections were completed, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Monday said that it was not right to spread "rumour" and "doubt everyone."

"Can someone influence them all? (district magistrates/returning officers) all? Can anyone influence 500-600 people? Tell us who did this. We will punish the person who did it. They should tell the details before counting the votes. It is not right that you spread a rumour and doubt everyone," Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference a day before the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections.

He further accepted the demands flagged by multi-party delegations ahead of the counting of the votes.

"All issues raised by multi-party delegations have been addressed. They demanded that there should be CCTV monitoring of the movements of the control units. That will be done," the CEC Kumar said.

A delegation of leaders from the INDIA opposition bloc met the full bench of the Election Commission on Sunday and urged it to ensure that all the guidelines are followed on June 4.

While countering the "laapata gentlemen" claims against the Election Commission the CEC said, "We chose to communicate through our press notes, of which over 100 were issued during polling."

Earlier, the Election Commission of India sought factual information and details from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for his public statement through a post on his social media handle alleging that calls have been made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to 150 District Magistrates just days before the scheduled counting of votes (June 4).

The poll body has sought a response from Jairam Ramesh by June 2, 2024 evening for further necessary action.

In a letter to Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh, the Election Commission mentioned that "the process of counting votes is a sacred duty cast upon every RO, and such public statements by a senior, responsible, and experienced leader tend to put an element of doubt and thus, deserve to be addressed in the larger public interest."

"Although, no DM has reported any undue influence, EC had sought details and information from Jairam Ramesh of 150 DMs whom Amit Shah has influenced , as alleged by Mr Ramesh and which he believes to be true, and had thus made these allegations," the letter added.

On Saturday, Jairam Ramesh had alleged that "outgoing Home Minister has been calling up DMs/Collectors". He called it "BJP desperation" and said officials should not get under the pressure by such intimidation.

"So far, he has spoken to 150 of them. This is blatant and brazen intimidation, showing how desperate the BJP is. Let it be very clear: the will of the people shall prevail, and on June 4th, Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, and the BJP will exit, and the INDIA Janbandhan will be victorious. Officers should not get under any pressure and must uphold the Constitution. They are under watch," he said.

Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases from April 19 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi steering the BJP campaign. Votes will be counted on June 4.

Source : DNA India