BJP meet at Rupani’s house poll code violation: Congress

Gandhinagar, March 18 (IANS) The Congress has complained to the Election Commission that the ruling BJP was violating the model code of conduct by convening poll-related meetings at Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's official residence here since the last two days.

Congress state unit's Election Coordination Committee Chairman Babubhai Patel filed the complaint with the state's chief electoral officer (CEO).

To discuss selection for candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the state, the BJP convened a meeting from Sunday at the Chief Minister's residence in Gandhinagar. Polling for the state's 26 seats will be held in a single phase on April 23.

The party poll meeting also saw BJP's Lok Sabha poll in charge for Gujarat, Om Mathur, state unit chief Jitu Vaghani, Chief Minister Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and several state party leaders attending.

Asked the reasons on not convening the meeting at Kamalam, the party state headquarters, situated just a few kilometers away from the CM's residence, Vaghani said it was for "security reasons".

At this, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who recently joined the Congress, said, "The situation is so bad in the state that despite ruling the state since more than two decades, the BJP leaders are not feeling safe to hold a meeting at their headquarters in Gandhinagar, imagine then what would be the plight of citizens?"

According to sources, the CEO has ordered an inquiry by the Gandhinagar Collector into the complaint. However, despite repeated attempts, there was no official response from the CEO regarding the matter.