Panaji, Mar 20 (PTI) The Goa Congress on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade of violating the election code of conduct.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar gave this information to reporters.
“Our party has written a formal complaint against CM Sawant and Goa BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade of violating the model code of conduct by holding ‘Viksit Bharat’ rallies,” he said.
“We have urged the Chief Electoral Officer to cancel permissions granted to the Viksit Bharat rallies and also not to grant any further nods,” he said.
Congress MLA Carlose Ferreira said that once the election code of conduct comes into force, the government cannot have any promotional events like the Viksit Bharat campaign.
“BJP scarves and caps cannot be used in government functions. The ECI must stop this immediately,” he said.
Ferreira said if the ECI does not stop this, then the party will approach the court seeking fair code of conduct.
Patkar said the Congress is all set to face the elections and win both the Lok Sabha seats – North Goa and South Goa – in the state.
“BJP is rattled with the intelligence reports, which show that the Congress is winning the South Goa seat, and stands a 50:50 chance in North Goa. We are confident that we will win the North Goa seat as well,” he said.
The sacrifice and contribution to the Indian freedom struggle and the Goa liberation movement by Congress leaders, like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Goans like Purushottam Kakodkar and others made it possible for Pramod Sawant to say he is born in independent India and liberated Goa, he added.
Congress has a glorious history of participation in the freedom movement, nationalisation of railways, hosting first Asian games, establishing Indian Institute of Technology, Lalit Kala Akademi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and various other initiatives which helped in building our nation, he said.
When contacted, Goa BJP leaders were not available for a comment on the issue.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday announced that elections to elect the 543-member Lok Sabha will be held in seven phases spread over 44 days starting April 19, and the counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. PTI RPS NP
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.