Facing criticism from political parties, sources in Election Commission of India (EC) on Saturday said that it was done to facilitate the journalists and poll body officers, who complained of their inability to attend the press conference at a very short span of time.

New Delhi: Facing criticism from political parties over allegedly deferring its press conference to suit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Ajmer, Rajasthan, sources in Election Commission of India (EC) on Saturday said that it was done to facilitate the journalists and poll body officers, who complained of their inability to attend the press conference at a very short span of time.

"It wasn't deliberately done to accommodate a political rally; we got numerous calls from journalists and polls officials after we announced at 10 am that a presser will be held at 12.30 pm," said the EC source. The presser was earlier scheduled to take place at 12.30 pm, but was postponed to 3.00 pm, following which several Opposition leaders took to Twitter to question the EC's independence and targeted it for allegedly owing to the government's line.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted:

3 Facts- Draw your own conclusions. 1. ECI announces a PC at 12.30 today to announce elction dates to the 5 states. 2. PM Modi is addressing a rally in Ajmer, Rajasthan at 1 PM today. 3. ECI suddenly changes the time of announcement and PC to 3 PM. Independence of ECI? — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 6, 2018

RJD MP Manoj Jha tweeted:

Under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, #ECI is the custodian of 'Free&Fair' elections besides ensuring level-playing field..and this mandate is under darkest of the clouds under this regime.Jai Hind #ElectionCommission — Manoj K Jha (@manojkjhadu) October 6, 2018

However, the senior poll official refuted these allegations on the EC’s independence, saying that the country’s election body is yet to finalise the Assembly poll dates and such accusations are only 'figment of imagination'.

“The commission will be meeting at 2.30 pm to finalise the poll dates and then announce it. The dates haven't been finalised yet,” the senior official told ANI.

Follow LIVE updates on the Election Commission poll dates announcement here