JD-U disapproves of Pavan Varma's remarks on EC, government

The Janata Dal United (JD-U), which has joined the NDA, on Monday disapproved of the remarks of party national General Secretary Pavan K. Varma criticising the Election Commission and the Narendra Modi government, saying his comments had "nothing to do with party's official line".

"The party does not approve of the views expressed by Shri Pawan Varma, the party leader. We have full faith in the impartial functioning of the Election Commission which is a constitutional body," the JD-U said in a statement released by its Secretary General K.C. Tyagi here.

The statement said that Varma was "not authorised" to make such a statement and that the "expressed views are in his personal capacity and have nothing to do with party's official line".

Earlier in the day, diplomat-turned-politician Varma had questioned the Election Commission's decision to not announce the election dates for Gujarat, saying that "credible answers were needed".

"EC must not only be impartial but seen to be so. Why have the dates for Gujarat elections not been announced? We need credible answers," said Varma on Twitter.

Varma, also national spokesperson of the JD-U, hit out at the central government over India's falling ranking in the Global Hunger Index.

"India's steep fall in the Global Hunger Index from 55 in 2014 to 100 in 2017 begs the question who is the 'fastest growing' economy working for?," he had asked.

The Election Commission has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition for announcing the dates for Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls on November 9, without giving the schedule for Gujarat whose Assembly term ends on January 22.

The JD-U faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in July formed a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state after severing ties with the Grand Alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress.

--IANS

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