A day after the Election Commission sought evidence from the Congress over a graft claim against the BJP in an advertisement, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday called on the poll watchdog to seek proof from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his allegation that the Congress is taking part in backdoor political negotiations with those linked to terrorism.

The Election Commission has issued a notice to the Karnataka Congress over its "corruption rate card" advertisements published in newspapers targeting the BJP, and sought "empirical evidence" to prove its allegations by Sunday evening.

The notice was issued on Saturday following a complaint lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In a tweet, Sibal said, "EC: Seeks proof from Congress for graft claims against BJP. What about: Seeking proof from PM when he accused Congress of 'backdoor political negotiations' with those linked to terrorism!" "Is it that EC dare not seek proof from PM?" said Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA 1 and 2, quit the Congress May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support.

On Saturday, the Congress had also written to the Election Commission seeking action against Prime Minister Modi for his "Congress shielded terrorism for vote bank" remark and said he has crossed the "lakshman rekha".

Taking strong objections to Modi's charge at a rally in Ballary on Friday, the opposition party had accused him of making "malicious and false" allegations to vitiate the atmosphere in poll-bound Karnataka. The Congress also gave copies of Modi's speech in Ballary and claimed he had said, "...Congress has shielded terrorism for the vote bank...".

"...look at the unfortunate situation in the country where the Congress is seen standing with this trend of terrorism that destroys societies. Not just this the Congress is also taking part in backdoor political negotiations with those who are linked to this trend of terrorism," according to the speech copies submitted by the party to the EC.

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