In last lap, EC dismay at ‘inflammatory’ talk, tells parties to not raise religion, caste

DISMAYED OVER a series of recent “inflammatory statements” made by senior political leaders “with underlying object of mixing religion with election campaign”, the Election Commission has written to various political parties, asking them to avoid such remarks that are “against not only the words but also the spirit of law and the MCC (model code of conduct)”.

The EC censure comes at a time when the political discourse in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has taken on religious and caste overtones. At a rally in Fatehpur on February 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while accusing the Samajwadi Party government of discriminating on grounds of religion, said, “If a village gets a kabristan (graveyard), it should get a shamshaan (cremation ground) too. If there is electricity during Ramzan, there should be electricity during Diwali too. If there is electricity during Holi, there should be electricity during Eid too.” Three days later, at a rally in the Chauri Chaura Assembly segment, BJP president Amit Shah came up with the ‘Kasab’ acronym to describe his party’s rivals, saying, “Ka se Congress, Sa se Samajwadi Party aur B se (BSP),” a comparison that caused outrage among the Opposition. PTI quoted Mayawati as telling people at a rally in Deoria on Saturday that “Muslims need to vote en masse for the BSP... if Muslims vote for the BSP, the BJP will get a setback and it will not be able to come to power in the state”.

The EC letter, dated February 25 and addressed to the “president/general secretary/secretary of all recognized national and state political parties”, states that the Representation of the People Act, 1951, provides that politicians “should desist from making statements, which have the