The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday wrote to the national presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, asking them to comment on complaints lodged by both parties against each other for poll code violations by star campaigners. In separate letters to BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the Commission asked them to comment on the alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during campaigns for the upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, as well as bypolls in West Bengal, Punjab, Karnataka and several other states. The Commission shared the complaints with the two parties while seeking their responses.
The EC has sought formal responses from both the party presidents by 1 pm on Monday (November 18), while reminding them of the Commission’s earlier advisory to them during the Lok Sabha election to keep star campaigners and leaders under check so that public decorum is not flouted and the model code is followed in its letter and spirit during campaigning. Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing Assembly polls in the two states. During the Lok Sabha election too, the poll authority had shared complaints filed by the two parties against the other’s star campaigners, including Modi, Shah, Gandhi and Kharge.
The BJP filed a complaint against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks during a rally, where he allegedly accused the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of “promoting hate” and indirectly linked them to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The BJP argued that the comments violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by inciting hatred and making unsubstantiated allegations. The BJP had demanded that Rahul be reprimanded, censured and restrained from “handing out lies” during the election campaign. They also wanted an FIR against Rahul and Kharge.
While seeking action, they had cited Rahul’s comments at a meeting in Mumbai on November 6 where he said that the BJP-RSS wants abolition of the Constitution. They also cited his comments about projects going out of Maharashtra to Gujarat, which the BJP claimed was wrong. Conversely, the Congress had complained to the EC on November 13 against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging violation of Model Code of Conduct. Party leader Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, accused the two BJP leaders of “divisive, false, and malicious speeches” in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The Congress claimed that Shah’s comments were inflammatory and divisive, breaching MCC guidelines.
Complaining against Modi, the Congress had referred to Modi’s remarks in Nashik and Dhule in Maharashtra on November 8 where the Prime Minister claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were opposed to quotas for Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Classes (OBC), promoting terrorism in the country,” the Congress has told the poll panel.Congress said this was “false, malicious and slanderous”.
On Shah, they said the Home Minister accused the Congress and its allies of being against Dalits, tribals and OBCs and promoting terrorism in the country. Shah also claimed that the Congress was planning to do away with the quota regime. The Congress called these allegations “false, divisive, malicious and slanderous”.
Meanwhile, a war of words continued between the BJP and the Congress on Sunday. Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attacked Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren saying he is “conspiring to provide reservations to Muslims through backdoor channels with the help of Congress” and warned that the BJP would thwart any such attempt. He also held Soren “responsible” for the declining tribal population.
“Hemant Soren is trying to provide reservations to Muslims through the backdoor with the support from Congress. I warn that BJP will not allow any such plans of Hemant Soren and Rahul Gandhi to succeed,” Shah said addressing a rally at Jharkhand’s Dumka.
In Ranchi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “eliminating freedom of speech” and imprisoning those who speak out against his mistakes. Kharge also labelled former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, who joined the BJP from JMM, a “traitor,” claiming there were many such people who betrayed those who nurtured them. “PM Modi has eliminated ‘freedom of speech’ from the country; he jails those who point out his mistakes. You are snatching people’s rights. Is this democracy that you jail a tribal CM? They want to crush us, but we will keep raising our heads,” Kharge said while addressing a rally in Ranchi’s Ormanjhi.
