New Delhi: Apprehending communal forces may create disturbances before the Gujarat Assembly elections, Congress on December 10 requested Election Commission (EC) to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

The request came when a five-member high powered Congress delegation led by senior party leader Manmohan Singh met the Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, AICC (All India Congress Committee) media secretary Tom Vadakkan said.

T S Krishnamurthy and B B Tandon, the two other Elections Commissioners were also present on the occasion.

Besides Manmohan Singh, the five-member delegation included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Motilal Vora, H R Bhardwaj and Ranjit Thomas.

At the daily briefing, party spokesman Satyabrata Chaturvedi said Congress apprehended that BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and its allies might create communal disturbances before the elections in Gujarat for their "narrow political ends" and appealed to people of the state not to allow such forces to succeed in their designs.

"We have reports from media raising apprehensions that communal forces may create confrontation between minority and majority communities," party spokesman Satyabrata Chaturvedi told reporters.

Appealing to the people of Gujarat not to allow BJP and its supporters to succeed in their game, he said extensive campaigning by party chief Sonia Gandhi had created a favourable atmosphere for the party and the BJP, in frustration, may go to any extent to reverse this.

PTI