In the initial investigation, Gujarat Police has revealed no violation of the election rules in connection with a complaint filed against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on April 30 for showing his party’s election symbol after he cast his vote in a polling booth at Ranip area in Ahmedabad.
“Our preliminary probe has revealed that authorities had marked a limit with a white strip outside the booth and Modi’s alleged Press conference was outside that limit,” said a senior Crime Branch official.
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch started investigating the case against the Gujarat Chief Minister on Thursday following two FIRs on charges of violating the Model Code of Conduct.
The Crime Branch officials viewed the video, in which Modi was seen flashing the BJP’s election symbol — the lotus — outside the polling booth and even clicked his selfie on his mobile phone. He later displayed the symbol several times while addressing the media at a Press conference near the polling booth.
After viewing the video footage, the Crime Branch officials also spoke to polling officers on duty and others present on the spot. The investigation of the case has been handed over to Police Inspector HA Rathod of the branch and DCP (Crime) Himanshu Shukla is closely supervising the case. The crime branch will submit the report to the Election Commission by Saturday, said a source.
The Election Commission had ordered the Gujarat Government and the Gujarat Police to register a case against the CM for violation of 126 (1) (a) and 126 (1) (b) of the Representation of the Peoples’ Act 1951 and Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. The model code of conduct for elections prohibits canvassing within 100 metres of polling stations. According to legal experts, the charge against Modi would not stand legal scrutiny, as he never called media or others who had gathered at the Ranip polling station. The police also questioned media personnel who interviewed Modi on the day of voting in Gujarat.