NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of staging ‘drama’ over his demand to meet the Election Commission. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi called the Leader of Opposition ‘an expert in theatrics’ and alleged that the poll panel’s statement had exposed what he described as Rahul’s ‘lies’.The remarks came as the confrontation between the Opposition and the Election Commission escalated on Tuesday, with Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among around 250 people detained during an INDIA bloc protest in Delhi. The leaders were demanding a meeting with chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his resignation.Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Trivedi said, “All day long, he kept telling the nation that he was being denied a meeting. The Election Commission has clearly stated that no request for a meeting was received from either the INDI Alliance or the Congress party,” he said.Trivedi said the Commission had an established procedure for such requests and was prepared to meet a delegation of representatives.“Secondly, the Commission noted in its press release that it was only at 4 pm that the police DCP informed them of the Leader of the Opposition’s desire to meet,” he said.“However, he insisted on a different approach, claiming that 300 MPs were with him and intending to enter the premises with that entire group, which has never happened in the history of India. There isn’t even enough space there for so many people to sit,” Trivedi said.He further claimed that the Commission had offered an alternative by suggesting that a senior official could visit the protest site to receive a memorandum.“It was suggested that a senior Commission official could visit the protest site to receive the memorandum, but Rahul Gandhi refused that option as well,” he said.
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“It is evident that he had no real intention of actually presenting his case to the Election Commission,” Trivedi alleged.The Election Commission, meanwhile, said no political party had formally requested a meeting with it by 4 pm. It later said Delhi Police informed it that a delegation led by Rahul Gandhi wished to meet the Commission to submit a memorandum.The poll panel said the proposed meeting involving a large group of MPs at Parliament House Annexe was “unusual and unacceptable”, as established protocol requires such meetings to take place at the Election Commission’s premises. It said it had offered to send its most senior executive officer to receive the memorandum, but the proposal was rejected by the MPs.
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