EC asks Nadda to explain Modi’s poll speech
Campaign speeches made by those holding high positions have more serious consequences, says EC Similar notice served on Mallikarjun Kharge over complaints concerning him and Rahul Gandhi The EC is ‘super, super cautious’ when it comes to the Prime Ministe
In a rst, the Election Commission (EC) has issued a notice for violation of the Model Code of Conduct based on complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, taking a circuitous route, the notice was sent on Thursday to BJP president J.P. Nadda, not Mr. Modi.
In fact, the notice does not mention the name of the Prime Minister at all. The complaints attached to the notice, however, are those of the Congress against Prime Minister Modi’s “malicious election speech delivered at Banswara (Rajasthan)”, along with complaints from other parties, such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist). A similar notice was served on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, concerning complaints related both to him and party leader Rahul Gandhi.
The poll body sought responses from both parties by 11 a.m. on April 29.
The EC ocials said this is the rst time in recent history that the panel has taken cognisance of a complaint against a Prime Minister
‘Clean chit’
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC had given a clean chit to Mr. Modi on complaints lodged by the Opposition parties.
What is also unprecedented is the poll body issuing Thursday’s notices to the respective party presidents instead of directly to the concerned individuals.
In its notice to the BJP president, the EC asked Mr. Nadda to bring to the notice of all the star campaigners of the party to “set high standards of political discourse and observe provisions of Model Code of Conduct in letter and spirit”.
The Commission said it has taken a view that while individual star campaigners will continue to remain responsible for speeches made by them, it will address party chiefs “on a case-to-case basis”.
Campaign speeches made by those holding high positions have more serious consequences, the EC said.
The Congress, which was the chief complainant against the PM’s comments, said that the EC sending the notice to Mr. Nadda and not to the Prime Minister was a revealing move.
“They [the EC] are super, super cautious when it comes to the Prime Minister, they are super cautious when it comes to the Home Minister,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told presspersons at party headquarters, adding that the Congress expects the Commission to act impartially and issue notices whenever there is need for one.
“There had been no complaint against (former
PMs) P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Manmohan Singh. This is the second time we have complained against the PM. We had earlier complained about the Home Minister [Amit Shah], but no action was taken. Action was taken against the Assam Chief Minister,” he added.
Notice to Kharge
The EC attached the complaints led by the BJP to the notice sent to Mr. Kharge. They alleged that he and Mr. Gandhi had violated the MCC during a speech in Kottayam on April 18 by making “false allegations” against the PM, claiming that Mr. Modi had advocated for ‘one nation, one language, and one religion’. The notice also said that Mr. Kharge, in comments made to a publication, had said that President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the Ram Temple consecration ceremony because she is a member of a Scheduled Tribe.
This notice too did not name either of the individual leaders.
Since the beginning of this poll season, the Commission has issued showcause notices to Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, BJP MP from West Bengal Dilip Ghosh, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrashekar Rao. In all these cases, however, notices were directly addressed to each of the individuals against whom complaints were led.