Local government deputy minister Mir Shahe Alam has said the Election Commission announced the seven-phase Union Parishad (UP) election schedule without any discussion with the government. He made the comment to reporters around 10:30am Tuesday.
The deputy minister said: “The Election Commission is independent, but under established practice, it is supposed to consult with the government before announcing a UP election schedule. But the government knows nothing about this schedule — the Election Commission held no discussion, whether by letter or any other means. That’s all I’ll say today. I won’t take questions, because questions just complicate things.”