EC relaxes ban on Himanta, Congress disappointed

New Delhi: The Election Commission has reduced its 48-hour campaign ban on Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday after the latter offered what he called an “unconditional regret” and requested the poll panel to halve the ban period.

Withdrawal or relaxation of campaign bans is rare. During the Lok Sabha polls, the EC had lifted its ban on BJP leader Amit Shah’s electioneering in Uttar Pradesh after he assured the poll panel that he would not “make any utterances violative” of the conduct code.

On the other hand, the Congress which filed the complaint that led to the ban said that the move on the part of the EC raised “several doubts” and the poll panel had “singularly failed” to discharge its obligations to preserve the purity of the electoral process.