The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued at least nine show-cause notices to leaders from the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for violations of model code of conduct (MCC) in the last one month, however, action has not been taken on any of the leaders were taken.
With polling in Telangana ending on Thursday, the elections in other four states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh – has come to an end. The ECI notices issued to the political parties failed to get converted into any strict actions.
Out of the nine notices, two were to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi alone. Congress Rajasthan chief was also served two notices. In total, Congress was served five notices while the BJP was issued two. One was for AAP and the other for BRS. Almost all these notices were related to violation of the MCC.
The first notice was issued to BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly making communal remarks during an election campaign in Chhattisgarh.
He was served the notice on October 26. The ECI found Sarma’s speech at Kawardha in Chhattisgarh on October 18 prima facie in violation of the provision of the MCC and Representation of People Act, 1951.
The same day, Priyanka Gandhi also received her first notice for her “envelop” remarks related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s temple visit. In its notice, the poll body said the “relation between an individual and a deity cannot be a matter of public scrutiny and her statement diminishes the devotee in the general estimation of the public”.
On November 14, she was again served a notice for her remarks on the Prime Minister that the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which was giving employment and contributing to the country’s growth “has been given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s industrialist friends”.
The same day, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was also served a notice based on a complaint from the BJP where it was alleged that in social media posts the party had portrayed PM Modi and Star Campaigner of the BJP in a “disparaging, insulting and defamatory manner”.
Days later, on November 21, the chief of BJP’s Delhi unit was served a notice for social media posts against Kejriwal. The EC said the posts are violating the model code of conduct.
On November 22, the ECI issued two notices to Rajasthan Congress president both for advertisements in newspapers. One was regarding an advertisement in a Hindi newspaper that “fails to adhere to the standards expected from a national party” as it was “designed to look like a news item with the view to disorient the electors”.
Another was for issuing advertisements on newspapers and social media platforms urging people/voters to register themselves for the party’s ‘seven guarantees’ in advance.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was served a notice for calling PM Modi ‘Panauti’ (unlucky) and ‘Jaibkatra’ (pickpocket). The notice was served to him based on a complaint by the BJP for his remarks in a public rally in the Barmer district of Rajasthan. In the election rally, he blamed the Prime Minister for Team India’s loss at ICC World Cup 2023 and said “PM means — Panauti Modi”.
On November 25, BRS leader KT Rama Rao was served a notice by the poll body for combining an official visit with a political/private one.
A day ago, his father and party head K Chandrashekar Rao got an advisory from the poll body where it has asked him to follow the provisions of the MCC after he made “derogatory and provocative comments”.
Actions on Governments
While the ECI did not take strict actions against any political leader, it did ban disbursement of Rabi season installments under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme in Telangana along with an advertisement from the Karnataka government.
The ECI approved the distribution of the installments on November 25 and rolled back the order on November 27. In the two-page letter, the ECI directed the state’s Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that its order is immediately conveyed to the Government of Telangana for violating MCC.
Explaining why this action is being taken, the poll body said it was informed that Finance Minister T Harish Rao made statements regarding disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme by a particular time before the polling date, which was widely reported in newspapers and local media.
Rao was a contesting candidate as well as BRS’s star campaigner.
The same day, on November 27, the ECI served notice to Karnataka Chief Secretary over advertisements of various welfare schemes and achievements in the state of Telangana over the previous week.
The ECI, in the two-page order, asked the Karnataka government to immediately stop such advertisements and sought a response on it by 5 pm on Tuesday.
The counting on votes will be done on December 3.
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