At the time when India’s Election Commission (EC) comes under fire for being biased, the country’s former president Pranab Mukherjee has said elections to his country’s lower house were conducted "perfectly".
"If democracy has succeeded, it is largely due to perfect conduct of elections by election commissioners," Mukherjee was quoted by PTI as saying on Monday.
His remarks come a day after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that the EC’s "capitulation" before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is obvious and the poll watchdog is not feared and respected anymore, according to PTI.
Speaking at a book launch event in New Delhi, Mukherjee lauded the role of the poll panel saying the election commissioners are “working very well”.
"You cannot criticise them, it was a perfect conduct of elections", he said.
India’s opposition parties have been the election body by for being allegedly biased towards the BJP.
The oppositions have stepped up its criticism of the poll panel after one election commissioner, Ashok Lavasa, wrote to the chief election commissioner stating he will be recusing himself from EC meetings as his dissent was not being recorded on clearances given by the poll panel to the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah over alleged poll code violations, according to PTI.