The Congress party said on Friday that the Election Commission deferred announcing the poll dates for Gujarat to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi more time to make "mega promises and inaugurations", PTI reported. The Election Commission on Friday did not announce the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly Election along with the dates of Himachal polls. Usually, elections in the two states have always been held simultaneously
"Obviously, this has been done to give more time to the PM to make some mega promises and carry out more inaugurations. Not at all surprising," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
Elections for the Himachal Pradesh legislature will take place on November 12, according to a statement made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) earlier in the day.
It claimed that many variables, including convention, the gap in qualifying dates, and weather had been taken into account before making a decision to not announce the dates for the Gujarat assembly elections.
ALSO READ: Why EC Did Not Announce Gujarat Assembly Election Dates Along With Himachal Poll Schedule
Jairam Ramesh said his party was not surprised over the development after the Election Commission announced poll dates only for the hill state and not for Gujarat, PTI reported.
The poll panel also said announcement of multiple state elections leads to longer wait in declaration of results.
Earlier in the day, the Congress general secretary slamming BJP tweeted, "...and government files started burning in Gujarat. A fire broke out in the old secretariat of Gujarat today. The fire just before the election shows that the BJP is aware of going to power. In this panic, the files of 27 years of corruption are being burnt"
(With Inputs From PTI)