Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Monday, 4 March, raised questions on the Election Commission not announcing dates for the general elections and asked whether it was waiting for the prime minister's "official" travel programme "to conclude," reported PTI.
Accusing the poll body of giving a long rope to the government to campaign at the cost of the state exchequer, Patel said, "Using government functions as an excuse for political rallies, flooding TV/radio and print with political ads. It seems that EC is giving the government a long rope to campaign till the last moment using public money."
In 2014, the dates for Lok Sabha polls were announced in the first week of March.
Last week, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora had said that the general elections will be held on time and that the poll body is prepared to conduct the same.
From programmes to the tune of Rs 538 crore in Amethi to six-km-long metro service in Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been on a spree, conducting election rallies and inaugurating several development projects, according to NDTV.
On 8 March, Modi is set to visit Ghaziabad, Kanpur and Benaras to lay foundation stones for a Rapid Rail Transit System and the Kanpur metro.
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV)
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