Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath denied charges that the Commission favoured Congress by allowing Rahul Gandhi to hold a road show at Beniabagh in Varanasi where Narendra Modi had been barred.

He justified Varanasi district magistrate's decision to deny permission to Modi for the rally, saying security perception relating to a leader is personality-specific. Mr Sampath said, the Commission looked at the decision of district authority and it was found that no wrong decision had been taken by them.

Earlier, BJP leader Arun Jaitley had criticised the poll body for allowing Rahul's roadshow in the city. He alleged that Modi's rally was not cancelled due to any security constraints but for political reasons.

The Election Commission also gave a clean chit to Rahul Gandhi for entering polling booths in Amethi. The Commission said, no case is made out against Mr. Gandhi for violating voting secrecy.

The Commission after going through reports from District Election Officer of Amethi and senior Election officers of Uttar Pradesh, found that Mr Gandhi visited a polling station when an EVM was not working and polling was not taking place at that time.

The poll body said, it was further confirmed by media reports as well as corroborated by polling agents of other political parties present in polling stations. Mr Gandhi was accused of entering voting compartments on the day of polling in Amethi and was reported to have interfered with Electronic Voting Machines.