EC sends notice to Cong over Rahul Gandhi’s poll code violation and demands response by April 29 | MorungExpress

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS): The Election Commission has taken notice of alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and sought a response from the party on Thursday.

In a message to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the Commission asked him to submit a reply by April 29.

The BJP, in its complaint to the EC, had said that Rahul Gandhi in Kottayam (Kerala) in his April 18 speech said: “When a daughter graduates from a college, her parents congratulate her in Malayalam. When a brother loses the other brother communicates in Malayalam. So Kerala is Malayalam, and Malayalam is Kerala. I get surprised when I hear Prime Minister speeches where he says one nation, one language and one religion people of Kerala don’t speak Malayalam? Every Indian language is as important as any other language. BJP does this with language, place, caste and religion.

BJP had told EC, “We request you to summarize an earlier show-cause notice issued to Rahul Gandhi, regarding his derisive and obnoxious statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rahul Gandhi, like a habitual serial offender, once again made grossly mala fide, patently false and extremely sinister allegations against the Coimbatore Prime Minister.”

Rahul Gandhi had also said, “They took away my Lok Sabha membership within a week. I was thrown out of the Lok Sabha.”

The Election Commission said in its letter to Kharge that the Star Campaigners were expected to use the privilege for “propagating the program of the political parties and therefore their speeches in the campaign space must necessarily be assessed at a higher threshold of compliance .

“Whereas, in light of the above, the Commission considers the political party as the fundamental stakeholder, in terms of regulation, consultation and facilitation within and on the electoral process, and whereas the Commission has over the years through various instructions/orders and advice has sought to make political parties more accountable, transparent and democratic in their functioning, and whereas the Commission is of the considered view that political parties will have to take primary and increasing responsibility for the conduct of their candidates in general and of top campaigners in particular,” the Commission said.

The EC said that the national party was therefore expected to be the standard-bearer in the political and campaign discourse and as such should also set high standards for compliance with the model code of conduct.

“While the Commission has received representation from a political party claiming that the Model Code of Conduct has been breached by speeches made during campaigns by some of your top campaigners. While these speeches have been selected because they are contrary to the MCC,” the EC said.

“Given the foregoing and the plenary power of the political parties to appoint or withdraw the status of the star campaigner, with the attendant responsibility and authority to monitor their star campaigners, the Commission takes the position that while the individual star campaigner is responsible would remain for speeches, the Commission will address the party chairman/head of the political party on a case-by-case basis,” the EC said in the communication.