Pankaj Chaudhary defends Election Commission against opposition allegations

BJP State President and Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary stated that a joint statement from the Election Commission has refuted allegations made by the Congress and other opposition parties regarding the Commission's impartiality. Chaudhary noted that all major decisions, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and its timeline, were reached through unanimous consensus among the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners.

Addressing concerns over a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, Chaudhary clarified that the document was an internal administrative matter concerning an officer on deputation rather than a policy-related issue. He accused the opposition of attempting to damage the reputation of constitutional institutions like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court for political gain.

In separate political developments in Karnataka, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi criticized the Congress government's handling of drought relief and its tendency to blame the central government for state-level financial issues. Meanwhile, BJP leader R. Ashok accused Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of leaking a Finance Department letter to shift blame for the state's financial crisis onto former CM Siddaramaiah. Ashok also alleged that the state is intentionally delaying payments for the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ women's welfare scheme by imposing new technical requirements and citing the voter list revision as a reason for delays.