Modi forced EC to delay announcement of LS poll dates: Cong leader

Prime Minister Narendra Modi "forced" the EC to delay the announcement of Lok Sabha poll dates to facilitate his election campaigning, Congress leader Raghu Sharma alleged on Tuesday.

In-charge of the Congress Campaign Committee in Rajasthan, Sharma claimed that the poll dates announced by the Election Commission (EC) were as per Modi's convenience.

The general election will be held from April 11 to May 19. The results will be declared on May 23.

"Lok Sabha poll announcement was delayed due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled public meetings and other programmes," Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of Congress Campaign Committee meeting for the polls.

"The Election Commission was forced to announce the dates on the directions of the prime minister," he added.

The state health minister further said that voting in Varanasi was scheduled for May 19 as per the convenience of the prime minister so that he could complete his election campaigning.

The Congress leader said that public meetings will be organised in 400 blocks of the state, in which star campaigners including national and state leaders will address different sections of the society.

He said that the Congress wants the elections to be based on issues and not rhetoric.

The elections are for saving the constitutional institutions and the Congress party will expose the lies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said.

He exuded confidence that the Congress will win all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.