'Erosion of EC integrity': Kharge on poll rule tweak

CONGRESS president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday launched an attack on the government for tweaking an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents, alleging it is part of the Narendra Modi government's "systematic conspiracy" to destroy the institutional integrity of the Election Commission.

Kharge also said the Modi government's "calibrated erosion" of the EC's integrity is a frontal attack on the Constitution and democracy.

The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the EC, the Union law ministry on Friday amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection.