The step was taken barely hours after Kharge’s comments prompted a high-level BJP delegation to meet with the election commission. Despite protests, the election body has remained silent about Modi’s politicised national address that was telecast three days ago.
New Delhi: On Wednesday, April 22, the Election Commission of India responded to a complaint made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding what appeared to be a remark made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. At a time when multiple political parties have pointed out what appeared to be a flagrant violation of the Model Code of Conduct by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had a partisan speech shown on public broadcast channels. Kharge has been ordered to respond within 24 hours by the poll body.
The measure was taken barely hours after a high-level BJP delegation met with the electoral commission regarding comments made at a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
Additionally, the notice is sent out the day before West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections.
The opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was being criticised by Kharge for its partnership with the BJP. “How can they (AIADMK) join with Modi? He is a terrorist,” he allegedly said. Additionally, he rejects equality. Justice and equality will not be accepted by his party. Additionally, by joining them, they are undermining democracy and the ideologies of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Annadurai, Kamaraj, Periyar, and Kalaignar.
In response to criticism from the saffron party, Kharge emphasised to reporters that he did not truly refer to the prime minister as a terrorist, but rather that what he meant was that “Modi is terrorising people and political parties.”
Notably, the ECI has remained silent over Modi’s speech to the nation on April 18 for more than three days. A complaint about Modi’s violation of the poll code through his national speech has been signed by over 700 concerned persons and sent to the poll authority. Academics, activists, and former officials were among the signatories.
The signatories had pointed out that this undermined a level playing field and provided the ruling party an unfair advantage, citing MCC regulations.
The MCC violations have also been reported by the opposition parties Congress, CPI(M), and CPI, with the Left parties formally complaining to the ECI.
After his government’s attempts to operationalise women’s reservation through a controversial plan to expand the Lok Sabha and embark into a delimitation process were defeated in the lower chamber, Modi attacked opposition parties in his remarkable public speech. Among the parties he mentioned were the Congress, DMK, and Trinamool Congress (TMC). In states where elections are scheduled for tomorrow, the TMC and DMK are significant actors.
The notice has elicited a strong response from the Congress. In a post on X, senior politician and party general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that although the ECI is a constitutional body, “its behaviour is an assault on the Constitution and a disgrace for which this CEC bears the heaviest responsibility.”
It has long been clear that the Election Commission follows the PM and HM’s lead. It has provided new proof of its operation as an affiliated office of the Home Ministry today, he claimed, after masterminding vote chori in many thousands, particularly in West Bengal.
