NEW DELHI: The BJP’s Delhi unit on Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera for his statement on Prime Minister Narendra Modi which, it claimed, was a violation of Model Code of Conduct. Khera had said ‘Modi’ stood for ‘Masood, Osama, Dawood and ISI’ during a television debate in which BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was present. Patra had demanded an apology from his Congress counterpart at the televised debate.
The statement from the Congress spokesperson drew flak from the ruling BJP leaders. But Khera had refused to apologise. “They keep abusing #Nehru. Modiji himself accused Dr Manmohan Singh and Gen Dipak Kapur of colluding with Pakistan to defeat him in Gujarat. If the unemployed youth or farmers ask tough questions to Modi, he hides behind these diversionary issues,” he had tweeted.
“Comparing Narendra Modi with dreaded terrorist like Maulana Masood Azhar, Osama Bin Laden, dawaood Ibrrahim and Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI is not unparliamentary but defamatory and deplorable. It is not only wrong to call our respected PM with such unparliamentary names but also a blatant vilocation of the Model Code of Conduct,” BJP’s Delhi unit legal department co-convenor SN Verma wrote in his complaint.
Irrespective of the party to which Narendra Modi belongs, he is a representative of the people and the present Prime Minister of India, he said. “Demeaning him and tarnishing his reputation also demolished the image of our country internationally.”
It appears that Khera called Modi with such names with malafide intention, the BJP leader said, adding that the Congress spokesperson has not apologised so far.“The speech amounts to violation of the model code. The MCC Manual, 2019 under Chapter 4 under clause 4.4.2 prescribes: No criticism of other parties and their workers on basis of unverified allegations or on distortions,” the BJP leader wrote in his letter to Delhi’s chief electoral officer.Verma sought action under penal and election laws against Khera for distorting Modi’s name.
In line of fire