Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said here on Saturday that it was up to Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan to decide if he wanted the ban on his campaign lifted as BJP leader Amit Shah had done, referring to the SP leader’s refusal to apologise for his provocative speech at an election rally.
Replying to a question at a press conference on Mr. Khan’s allegation that the commission was biased in giving relief to Mr. Shah while ignoring his case, Mr. Sampath said the Commission would not respond to allegations. “We cannot get into a public debate,” he said. “The Commission doesn’t get into individual allegations where people are affected by decisions taken by the Commission. “People make allegations from time to time. We don’t get drawn into this,” he said.