New Delhi :
A decision on the alleged Model Code violations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, will be taken at a meeting tomorrow, the Election Commission told the media today. The crucial meeting will be held as the Supreme Court hears a Congress appeal to direct the commission to speed up the decision on poll code violations by PM Modi and Amit Shah.
Asked about the court hearing, Chandra Bhushan Kumar, the Deputy Election Commissioner, said, “This meeting to decide on these leaders’ violations was fixed earlier. We can’t comment on tomorrow’s court hearing”.
The Prime Minister was accused of violating the Model Code for his references to the Pulwama and Balakot air strikes during election campaign, which has been banned by the Commission.
Sources earlier told NDTV that the matter was under consideration and the Commission would arrive at a decision before the elections end.
Another complaint is pending with the Commission for the Prime Minister’s mini roadshow and speech in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, when he went there to vote last week. The Commission had sought a report on the matter from the Chief Election Officer of Gujarat.
The officials were also examining the complaint against BJP chief Amit Shah for dubbing the armed forces “Modi Sena” – a remark that army officers had objected to and wrote to the defence ministry.
The BJP had complained against Rahul Gandhi for his “chowkidar chor hai” slogan.
The election panel has been active after it was pulled up by the Supreme Court earlier this month over allegations of inaction in cases of Model Code violation.
Since then, a number of political leaders — including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Maneka Gandhi, Mayawati, Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan and Congress’s Navjot Sidhu – were handed temporary bans from campaigning.
But contending that the Election Commission had not acted on the party’s complaints against PM Modi and Amit Shah for three weeks, the Congress had asked the top court this morning for a direction within 24 hours.
In her appeal, Congress lawmaker Sushmita Dev had said PM Modi and Mr Shah used “hate speech” at rallies to polarise voters, and referred to the operations by the armed forces in their “political propaganda” despite the poll body’s ban.
Last month, in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack and the air strikes at Pakistan’s Balakot, the Commission had categorically told political parties not to refer to the armed forces in election campaigns.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said it will hear the Congress plea on Tuesday. PTI
