Delhi Polls: Congress candidate Sushant Mishra alleges being assaulted by Election Commission officials

New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI): Congress candidate from Rithala assembly constituency, Sushant Mishra has alleged that he was assaulted by Election Commission officials, and tried to stop him from taking out a foot march.
Mishra said he has complained about the incident to the Election Commission.
"We (Congress) were taking out a padyatra with permission. Suddenly Election Commission officials came there who did not introduce themselves at that time. Hiding their identity, they tried to stop our march," the Congress candidate told ANI.
"This is a very sad incident...We have complained about the matter and the complaint has also been given to the Election Commission," he added.
Congress' General Secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh also mentioned the alleged incident in a post on X, alleging that Mishra was "attacked and injured" by an officer of the Election Commission on January 25.
"@INCIndia's Rithala assembly candidate Sushant Mishra (@sushant_m) was attacked and injured by an officer of @ECISVEEP yesterday. The officer also tried to stop him from taking out a padyatra, for which the Delhi Police had already given permission," read a post by Jairam Ramesh.
The Congress leader called it a "case of partisan behaviour" by an officer of a Constitutional body.
"Sushant Mishra has been actively raising cases of violations of the Model Code of Conduct by other candidates in the Delhi Assembly elections. This is clearly a case of partisan behaviour by an officer of a constitutional body like the Election Commission," the post added.
However, replying to the same post by Ramesh, the official account of the District Magistrate of North-West Delhi called the allegations as "baseless."
"The allegation of biasness is baseless, as all FST teams and election staff are conducting their duties fairly and impartially to ensure a level playing field for all contesting candidates and as per the mandate of ECI," read the post by the DM, also the District Election Officer (DEO).
According to the DEO, the campaigners of Congress had permission to only do door-to-door canvassing from A-953, Friends Properties, Budh Vihar Phase-2 to Gali No. 15, however, the campaigning was taking place at Gali no 25, and continued till after the allowed time of 6 PM.
"Upon arrival at the site, it was observed that one INC Party was campaigning in Gali No 25, Shyam Colony, Budh Vihar Phase-2. The FST head requested the campaign organizer to provide a copy of the permission for the activity, but it was not presented," read the post.
Referring to the permission slip for campaigning posted by Ramesh on his post, the DM further pointed that out and mentioned that Gali no 25 was not covered under it.
"The permission document referenced in the tweet (No. 28AC15415) allowed door-to-door canvassing from A-953, Friends Properties, Budh Vihar Phase-2 to Gali No 15. However, the campaigning was taking place in Gali No 25, which was not covered under the stated permission," the post added. (ANI)