address a mammoth BJP gathering

NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets set today toin poll-bound Gujarat Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi turned to sarcasm and said, "it's going to rain pre-poll (tall) promises galore".Rahul's comment was a reference to Congress and other Opposition allegations that poll dates for Gujarat weren't announced as per schedule last week to give an opportunity to the BJP to "rain sops" on the people of the state ahead of Assembly elections.Today, Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will address over seven lakh BJP workers at the conclusion of party's ongoing Gujarat Gaurav Yatra, it's poll campaign program.Rahul said he expects the BJP and Modi will announce sops and ambitious programmes at today's event."Today's weather report: It's going to rain pre-poll (tall) promises galore", tweeted the Congress vice president today, referring to the BJP's massive meeting today.Last week, the Congress alleged that the Election Commission's (EC) move to delay announcing the dates for the Assembly election in Gujarat smacked of "direct interference" by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.Last Thursday, the EC announced that elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held November 9, while for Gujarat , all it said is that elections will be held some time before December 18.The Congress accused the BJP of pressuring the EC to tilt the "playing field" in Gujarat in its favour."It is a fundamental assault on a level playing field. The BJP is trying to convert Election Commission to Election Ommission," said Congress spokesperson AM Singhvi on Friday, a day after the EC's announcement.However, chief election commissioner (CEC) AK Joti said the delay in announcing the Gujarat dates was to ensure the state did not have to endure a long period under the pre-poll model code of conduct. Joti said there is "no justification" to have a prolonged period of imposition of model code of conduct as it could hamper development work.CEC Joti also added that the Gujarat government had told the Commission that it needed time to complete relief work before the model code is enforced.