PM put pressure on EC to delay press conference, says Cong; CEC rubbishes claim

The Congress Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "put pressure" on the Election Commission (EC) to delay its press conference to announce poll dates in five states as he was scheduled to address a rally in Rajasthan, a claim rubbished by the poll panel chief.

Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said in Delhi that the EC does not work under pressure and listed three reasons for the nearly three-hour delay in giving out the schedule.

In Kolkata, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the prime minister of "putting pressure" on the EC to delay its press conference. He also said the CEC's explanation is "preposterous" and wondered whether BJP is the "super EC".

The EC was set to hold a press conference at 12.30 pm but had rescheduled it subsequently to 3.00 pm.

The five states where Assembly polls will be held in November-December are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana.

"There is no pressure ... EC does not work under pressure ... if someone thinks concessions have been made, they are free to complain," Rawat told reporters in New Delhi.

On shifting of the press conference's timing, the CEC listed three reasons -- last-minute assessment of timeline for publication of Telangana electoral rolls, a high court direction that Telangana electoral rolls be shown to it before final publication and request from a state to delay bypolls due to possibility of bad weather.

Responding to a series of questions on Congress' accusation regarding postponing of the press conference, Rawat said, "Politicians are political creatures and they have to see politics in everything. We have no comments."