Naqvi to meet EC official over BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya's tweet on Karnataka poll dates

NEW DELHI: Shortly after BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya's tweet sparked a controversy by tweeting the dates for the Karnataka Assembly Elections even before the Election Commission, a delegation led by Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will meet the Commission officials in connection with the incident.

#Delhi: Delegation led by BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi arrives at Election Commission office in connection with BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya's tweet on #KarnatakaElections2018 dates. pic.twitter.com/jmZ6jTSIyQ — ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2018

Taking a dig at the BJP, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the BJP has become the 'Super Election Commission'.

Questioning the Election Commission's credibility, the Congress leader added, "Will EC now issue notice to BJP President, Amit Shah and register an FIR against BJP IT Head for leaking EC's confidential information?"

Even before the Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat announced the election dates, Malviya tweeted that the polling will be held on May 12 and the results would be declared on May 18.

When asked how Malviya announced the voting and counting dates even before the EC made the official announcement, Rawat termed it as a serious issue and assured that action would be taken if the body finds any wrongdoing.

While the polling date coincided with what Malviya tweeted, the date for counting of votes was different. Instead of March 18, the EC declared it as March 15. But Malviya deleted the tweet a few minutes following the controversy.

Here are the official dates announced by the Election Commission:

Notification: April 17, 2018

Last date of nomination - April 24, 2018

Date of scrutiny of nomination - April 26, 2018

Last date of withdrawal - April 27, 2018

Date of poll - May 12

Date of counting of votes - May 15

The election for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will be held on May 12, 2018 and counting of votes will take place on 15 May, 2018. The last state elections were held in the first week of May in 2013.

While the Congress is aiming to retain the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is putting all its might to get the state into its kitty. If BJP manages to form its government in Karnataka, it will be in power on its own or in an alliance in 22 states. Currently, Punjab and Karnataka are two big states apart from Mizoram which are ruled by the Congress.