EC rejects Jairam Ramesh's request for time to prove allegations against Amit Shah

Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh

The Election Commission of India on June 3 rejected the request for extra time sought by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to prove the allegations that Union home minister and BJP leader Amit Shah has tried to influence over 150 district magistrates in various parliamentary constituencies ahead of the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections on June 4.

The ECI asked Ramesh to file his response by 7 pm today. “…the Commission outrightly rejects your request for time and extension and directs you to file your response along with factual matrix/basis of your allegations by 7 pm today i.e. June 3.”

“So far, he has spoken to 150 of them. This is blatant and brazen intimidation, showing how desperate the BJP is,” the Congress in-charge for communication had said in a post on X on June 1.

Following the tweet, the commission had sought the Congress leader’s response by June 2 by 7 pm.

The process of counting votes is a sacred duty cast upon every returning officer and such public statements "tend to put an element of doubt and thus, deserves to be addressed in larger public interest”, the EC had told Ramesh. It has also told the Congress leader that when the Model Code of Conduct is in force, all officers are under the deemed deputation of the commission and they report directly to the poll watchdog for any directions.

"However, no DM has reported any such undue influence as alleged by you…,” the EC’s letter to Ramesh has stated. "It is requested that details of 150 DMs to whom such calls have been allegedly made by the Home Minister along with the factual matrix/basis of your information are shared by 7 pm today — June 2, 2024, so that appropriate action can be taken,” the letter to the Congress leader said.

It has said that being a responsible, experienced and very senior leader of a national party, Ramesh must have made such a public statement ahead of the counting day on the basis of facts or information he believes to be true.