Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his third visit to poll-bound Gujarat for RO-RO ferry service this month on Sunday, criticized the Opposition for questioning the Election Commission’s objects in delaying the declaration of the Assembly poll calendar for the State.

“The Opposition parties have no authority to question the Election Commission over the declaration of the poll timetable,” PM Modi said, addressing an assembly in Vadodara. The decisive polls are due later this year and the tenure of the Assembly ends on January 22, 2018.

Pointing out at Congress leader P. Chidambaram, who had carp the EC, saying the EC had “authorized” the PM to declare the dates for Assembly polls at a rally in Gujarat, PM Modi said, “Someone who won during recounting is targeting the EC now.”

The Prime Minister also shielded the Centre’s policies in the context of disapproval about an economic decelerate due to the beginning of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetization.

“After all reforms and hard decisions, the economy is on track and is going in the right direction,” PM Modi said, emphasizing that “hard decisions regarding economic reforms will keep on.”

Scores of economists, PM Modi said, had agreed collectively that the fundamentals of the economy were well-built. The PM devoted time to cite data and economic indicators to strengthen his claim.