# Pawan Khera hits EC over closed-gate rule in Puri campaign 2026-08-21T04:42:04+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Congress leader Pawan Khera has accused the Election Commission of unfairness after a campaign event for candidate Sriballav Panigrahi in Puri was blocked by closed gates. Khera said that on May 30, two hours before the deadline for electioneering, the gates to an area where Panigrahi was to meet voters were locked, preventing the candidate from entering. The EC's model code of conduct bars campaigning in the final 48 hours before polling, but Khera argued the gates were closed prematurely. The Puri constituency goes to vote on June 1 in the final phase of the general election. Panigrahi is the Congress candidate, pitted against sitting BJP MP Pinaki Misra. Khera questioned whether the same rule was applied to all candidates, saying the Congress has not been given equal treatment. The EC is yet to issue a statement on the specific incident. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Election Commission's standard operating procedure for candidate entry inside the last 48 hours before voting is not a new rule, it has been in place for years. But this election cycle the practice has drawn more scrutiny because of the intense fight in Puri, where the sitting BJP MP faces a Congress challenge backed by state-level allies. The real question is not whether the gates were closed at the exact stroke of 5pm on May 30, but whether the EC's own district-level officers enforced the deadline uniformly at every polling station in the constituency. If even one station let a candidate enter late, the losing side will have grounds for a formal complaint under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, which bans any electioneering in the 48-hour silence period. The EC has not yet issued a public ruling on the specific Puri complaint, and its decision is likely in the next few days. Watch whether the returning officer files a report or stays silent: that will signal whether the case has weight or is being deflected. ## Coverage - odishatv.in Led with Khera's criticism before any EC explanation, and did not include an EC response or official clarification This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Election Commission of India, Pawan Khera, Pinaki Misra, Puri, Sriballav Panigrahi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/pawan-khera-hits-ec-over-closed-gate-rule-in-puri-campaign/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/pawan-khera-hits-ec-over-closed-gate-rule-in-puri-campaign/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/