After Amit Malviya’s tweet caught the eyeballs, it emerged that Karnataka Congress Social Media in-charge Srivatsa too tweeted the similar detail.
The controversy’s favourite child BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya has landed in a soup again. This time, however, the matter is grave one. The Election Commission today announced the dates of polling and the dates of results for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections. The press conference conducted by the CEC OP Rawat began at around 11 AM in the morning.
However, eight minutes into the Press Conference, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya announced the polling and counting dates on Twitter even before the Election Commission conveyed the dates decided to the reporters, sparking a controversy. Incidentally, Amit Malviya got the counting date wrong. He tweeted that the date of counting is May 18 whereas the date of counting announced by the ECI is May 15.
Several local news channels too flashed the same information on their channels. When asked how he got his hands on the polling dates even before EC announced it, Amit Malviya said he got the information from these channels. However, he did not name any one of them.
BJP becomes the ‘Super Election Commission’ as they announce poll dates for Karnataka even before the EC.
Credibility of EC is on test.
Will EC now issue notice to BJP President, Amit Shah & register an FIR against BJP IT Head for leaking EC’s confidential information? pic.twitter.com/i3vU2iJpjH— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 27, 2018
Following the tweet, the journalist present at the Press Conference also posed a question in front of CEC OP Rawat who assured that the Election Commission will conduct a probe into the matter. “We will launch a thorough investigation into the matter to find out what has actually happened,” said Rawat. He also assured that the Election Commission will take appropriate action in the matter.
Soon after the controversy erupted Amit Malviya deleted his tweet. However, the opposition took this opportunity to launch an attack on ruling BJP. Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a tweet called BJP the “Super Election Commission” and said that the credibility of the EC is on a stake.
On the other hand, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury too expressed concern over the matter. He said that the sanctity of India’s democratic processes is at stake and appropriate punishment should be given to BJP.
The credibility of the Election Commission of India as an institution and the sanctity of India's democratic processes is at stake. Nothing less than exemplary punishment for the BJP would help restore public faith. pic.twitter.com/yrIvd7vmkY
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) March 27, 2018
However, later it also emerged that Karnataka Congress Social Media in-charge who goes by the name Srivatsa also tweeted the similar detail with the wrong counting date at the same time.
Whether both of them got the dates right or wrong remains a secondary question, but political parties getting their hands on confidential information of democratic institution is sure an alarming sign.
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