“Don’t Be Intimidated”: M Kharge To Bureaucrats Ahead Of Poll Result

New Delhi: 

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge issued an appeal to the country’s bureaucrats — who play a key role in the counting of votes — asking them to serve the nation without fear. His appeal come on the heels of the allegation by party’s senior leader Jairam Ramesh, that Union Home minister Amit Shah had called up 150 district officers ahead of tomorrow’s counting of votes and attempted to intimidate them.

“Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any Unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day,” Mr Kharge wrote in the open letter he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Independence of the institutions is paramount, for every civil servant takes oath of the Constitution that they ‘will faithfully and conscientiously discharge their duties and will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will’,” he said.

“In this spirit we expect every bureaucrat and officer – from top to bottom of the hierarchy, to discharge their duties in the spirit of the Constitution, without any coercion, threat, pressure or intimidation either from the ruling party/coalition or from the opposition party/coalition,” the Congress chief wrote.