New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued notices to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for controversial remarks issued while campaigning for next month’s assembly elections.
Sarma has been asked to explain his “communally charged statement” during a public meeting in Chhattisgarh, while Gandhi has been asked to explain remarks she made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public meeting in Rajasthan.
Both speeches were flagged for possible violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) — the guidelines that regulate a candidate’s behaviour once an election is announced.
The EC has also written a letter to the Cabinet Secretary about a letter circulated to the ministries for nomination of senior officials as “District Rath Prabharis” for the proposed ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ which is slated to begin from 20 November to showcase the government’s achievements over the course of the last nine years.
“Commission has directed that the aforesaid activities should not be taken in the constituencies where Model Code of Conduct is in force up till 5th December, 2023,” the EC said in the letter, referring to the date when counting of votes for the five poll-bound states must end.
The notice against Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Sarma came on the back of a complaint filed by the Congress on 19 October. In the complaint, the Congress refers to “communally charged statements” that Sarma made against Mohammad Akbar, an MLA from Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha and the sole Muslim minister in the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in the state, at a public meeting in the assembly constituency on 18 October.
Reports quoted Sarma as saying that “if one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars… Don’t forget this. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled.”
The notice to Gandhi, on the other hand, is with regard to a public meeting she addressed in Dausa in Rajasthan on 20 October, and came on the back of a complaint filed by the BJP.
In her speech, Gandhi is quoted to have said that she saw Modi make a donation at Rajasthan’s Devnarayan but when the envelope was opened, it was found to contain Rs 21. “This is what is happening in the country as well. Big announcements are made… envelopes are shown but when elections finish no work happens” she was quoted as having said.
Sarma and Gandhi have been given until 5 pm on 30 October to respond to the notices.
While Chhattisgarh votes for its 90-member assembly in two phases on 7 and 17 November, Rajasthan will vote for all 200 seats on 25 November.
What the notices said
According to the EC’s notice, Sarma’s speech had been found “prima facie” to be in violation of Clauses 1 and 2 of Part I ‘General Conduct’ of the Model Code of Conduct.
While Clause 1 prohibits remarks that create tensions between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic, Clause 2 is aimed at preventing attacks on a leader’s private life.
The notice to Gandhi says she has been accused of having made “false statements in respect of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi” and was “prima facie” found in violation of Clauses 2 & 3 of Part I of the Model Code of Conduct.
Clause 3 bans any appeals to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
“It has been alleged that you have invoked the personal religious devotion of the Prime Minister. Further, it is averred that the relationship between an individual and deity cannot be a matter of public scrutiny and your diminishes the devotee in general estimation of (the) public,” the notice reads.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)