NEW DELHI: Election Commission is set to decide on the complaints of alleged violations of model code of conduct by Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, and PM Narendra Modi in a couple of days. The poll panel may issue orders or fresh advisories to the two parties, TOI has learnt.
This was the first time when EC issued notices to party presidents seeking their reply for model code violations by their ‘star campaigners’ while specifying that star campaigners would continue to remain responsible for their speeches.Sources said in this case, the poll panel gave enough time to party chiefs to respond. While BJP had filed complaints against Kharge and Rahul for their speeches, Congress and CPI had moved EC seeking action against the PM citing his addresses in poll rallies.
Both Kharge and BJP president J P Nadda have denied the charges in their replies. BJP defended Modi’s speeches and sought action against Congress and its allies, saying the opposition parties were trying to sow seeds of communal disharmony and denigrate Hindu religion for their politics of appeasement. In his response, Nadda is learnt to have maintained that it was based on a “factual picture” about remarks made by Modi, who had echoed what Congress and its functionaries had been speaking and had mentioned in the party manifesto.
Sources said Kharge, in his response to EC, said BJP’s complaint was based on false contexts and presumptions, and was an attempt to derail Congress’s poll campaign. Congress has claimed the EC notice was “misconceived” and “non-maintainable”.
This was the first time when EC issued notices to party presidents seeking their reply for model code violations by their ‘star campaigners’ while specifying that star campaigners would continue to remain responsible for their speeches.Sources said in this case, the poll panel gave enough time to party chiefs to respond. While BJP had filed complaints against Kharge and Rahul for their speeches, Congress and CPI had moved EC seeking action against the PM citing his addresses in poll rallies.
Both Kharge and BJP president J P Nadda have denied the charges in their replies. BJP defended Modi’s speeches and sought action against Congress and its allies, saying the opposition parties were trying to sow seeds of communal disharmony and denigrate Hindu religion for their politics of appeasement. In his response, Nadda is learnt to have maintained that it was based on a “factual picture” about remarks made by Modi, who had echoed what Congress and its functionaries had been speaking and had mentioned in the party manifesto.
Sources said Kharge, in his response to EC, said BJP’s complaint was based on false contexts and presumptions, and was an attempt to derail Congress’s poll campaign. Congress has claimed the EC notice was “misconceived” and “non-maintainable”.