Congress leader Pawan Khera strongly criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of acting under the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the poll panel wrote to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Responding to questions about the Congress’s reaction to the ECI’s notice, Khera said,

“We will talk on the Election Commission… Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and various Congress leaders are continuously discussing these issues. But the Election Commission runs like PM Modi’s puppet.”

Khera also took aim at External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who had recently drawn a parallel between the Emergency and present-day politics.

“…What they call Amrit Kaal is an undeclared Emergency. The leader that imposed Emergency did so via the Constitution; she removed it, apologised for it, and the public accepted the apology, giving 353 seats to the same leader, the same party,” Khera remarked, referring to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.