BHOPAL: Two Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leaders have been booked for bringing university students to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Shahdol district of assembly poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Friday.
The ABVP is right-wing all India student outfit, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Taking suo moto cognizance of local media reports in Shahdol about college goers and university students in uniform having been brought to attend the PM's rally on Friday, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO-MP) office directed the district election officer to probe the episode.
"Detailed probe in the matter revealed that local ABVP leaders went to the classrooms in Pandit Shambhunath Shukla University in Shahdol. From there, students in uniform were brought to increase the headcount at PM Modi's rally around 14 away," said a senior official at the CEO-MP office on Monday.
A preliminary probe by the district election office in Shahdol also revealed that even the teachers who were taking the classes didn't object to their students being taken by ABVP leaders to the PM's rally, the official added.
"The guidelines pertaining to the model code of conduct clearly stipulate that no school or college-goer in uniform can be taken for participating in any poll-related programme without the willingness of the concerned student. As this act of taking university students in uniform just to increase crowd headcount violates the guidelines, hence a case of violation of model code of conduct was registered in Shahdol against two ABVP workers," the official maintained.
The two ABVP leaders booked for the offence, including Kamlesh Sahu and Saurabh Gole. The duo has been booked under Section 188 of CrPc for violating the orders promulgated under Section 144 of CrPc.The PM had teed off his tour to poll-bound MP with the rally in Lalpur area of Shahdol district on Friday in the afternoon and also addressed another rally in Gwalior the same evening.
According to CEO of MP, VL Kantha Rao, this the fourth case of poll code violation which has been registered against the ruling BJP or allied workers for using children or college goers at poll related programs, after the model code of conduct came into force from October 6 in the state.
Prior to this similar cases have been registered against local BJP leaders in Indore, Sehore and Bhopal for using school goers in uniform at poll related Jan Ashirwad Yatra and other programs of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission is probing the complaint of opposition Congress pertaining to Prime Minister Narendra Modi making false statements about MP Congress Committee chief Kamal Nath at the poll rally in Nath's parliamentary constituency Chhindwara on Sunday.
"The Congress delegation has submitted a CD along with their complaint which is being probed," added Rao.
On Sunday evening, a Congress delegation met CEO-MP in Bhopal and submitted a complaint alleging that the PM, while addressing an election rally in Chhindwara earlier in the day made false statements about a video in which the state Congress chief Kamal Nath says that he is ready to give party tickets to goons, criminals, fraudsters and corrupt persons, if they are worthy of winning polls.
"As the PM of the country, Narendra Modi should have never made such false statements. We demand that a case of model code of conduct violation be lodged against the PM for making false statements at the poll rally," said State Congress media convener NS Saluja.
On Sunday, PM Modi while addressing the poll rally in Chhindwara had asked the crowd whether they have seen the video in which the state Congress chief is seen saying that he's ready to give tickets even to goons, criminals, fraudsters and tainted persons if they are winnable.
"Will you allow the state to be pushed into hands of such leaders," Modi had questioned the crowd.