A delegation of the Congress party, including senior leaders Salman Khurshid and Mukul Wasnik, on Monday met the Election Commission and submitted a set of complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged poll code violations.
In one of the six complaints, the Congress urged the poll panel to file a complaint against the Prime Minister and the leader of the BJP for making “disparaging” remarks against the party’s manifesto (Nyay Patra) for the ongoing 18th Lok Sabha elections.
Notably, earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Prime Minister for criticizing the party’s manifesto.
“While addressing a public rally in Rajasthan’s Ajmer on 6th April, Narendra Modi made several comments about the Indian National Congress (INC), stating that INC’s manifesto is a ‘bundle of lies’ and the manifesto makes the INC’s intent of ‘imposing thoughts that the Muslim League had before Independence’ plainly evident. The comments made by Modi have been widely reported by several media outlets,” read the complaint submitted to ECI against Modi.
The Congress asserted that the comments made by Modi are in direct and complete violation of the Model Code of Conduct that is presently in effect and also constitute offences punishable under provisions of the IPC Section 153A.
“By propagating false, uninformed and vexatious claims, Modi has attempted to evoke an emotional response from the electorate by using the horrors of partition, in a bid to polarize voters. Such instances of calculated and malicious comments by him and the BJP are nothing out of the ordinary but rather a part of the larger party-wide concerted effort of arousing communal discord to secure a larger vote share,” the party said.
The Congress further said, “The actions of Modi may also endanger the well- being of supporters of the INC, by making the public believe that the INC wishes to ‘divide India’. Hence, considering the gravity of the situation the Commission cannot turn a blind eye to the comments made by him.”
“As a creature of the Constitution, the Hon’ble Commission’s allegiance to the Constitution is supreme. The public is extremely watchful of the actions taken by the Commission during the election period. In order for the public to have continued public trust, it is extremely necessary that the Commission must be stern and swift in taking action against Modi’s conduct in raising communal tensions in Indian society,” the party added.
The others include complaints against the continued use of “Armed Forces” in election campaigning by the BJP and Doordarshan for airing ‘The Kerala Story’, “a work of fiction that vilifies a religious community and lends credence to the idea of Love Jihad.”