Karnataka poll date leak: EC to question Congress worker instead of BJP IT Cell chief

Bengaluru, Mar 28: In a controversial decision the Election Commission has reportedly decided to question a Congress worker instead of BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya in connection with the leak of the poll schedule for Karnataka.

Amit Malviya had tweeted the poll dates even before it was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner yesterday sparking a row. Within seconds, Congress worker Srivastava B, who heads the party social media cell in Karnataka also had tweeted the same. 

Name of BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya does not figure in EC inquiry order on how Karnataka election dates were leaked. EC order below has absolved him even before any probe & EC so-called inquiry is merely a joke : pic.twitter.com/caqCZz8kXG

— Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) March 28, 2018

However, an Election Commission document reveals that Amit Malviya has been excluded from questioning in the case. Only Srivastava B will be questioned.

The election commission has formed a six-member panel under Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha to probe the poll date leak. 

In a letter to the Election Commission, Amit Malviya had claimed that his tweets on the dates were based on a news break from a leading television channel. He also mentioned that Congress member used the same source for announcing the dates. Following this explanation, Election Commission has excluded Malviya from the probe.

Letter submitted to the Election Commission by Shri @malviyamit, National In-charge, Information and Technology, BJP regarding a tweet pertaining to the election dates in Karnataka. https://t.co/0mDUFzOKCH pic.twitter.com/CziIhciO2B

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 27, 2018

http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/Responses_28032018.pdf