The BJP has asked the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to withdraw the recognition granted to the Congress and take action against its vice president Rahul Gandhi for “repeatedly flouting” the Model Code of Conduct.
The chief Opposition party was miffed when the Congress scion during a recent visit to Maharashtra had accused the RSS of involvement in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
The complaint lodged with CEC V S Sampath on Saturday, alleged that Rahul and his party were “habitual offenders” of the poll code, by whipping up communal tensions ahead of the elections.
“It is prayed that appropriate action may kindly be taken against the Indian National Congress(INC) as well as Rahul – MP and party vice-president – for violating the Model Code of Conduct and the recognition of the INC as a national party may kindly be withdrawn immediately for repeated violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” it said.
Besides, the petition submitted by BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi listed a number of instances in the recent past, where various Congress leaders along with Rahul had made derogatory statements. “The intention of Rahul was to incite the feelings of the people by falsely portraying the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to be responsible for his (Mahatma) death and further create a sense of fear among the Hindus, Muslims and other communities that the BJP will create tensions among them,” Naqvi said.
“The entire tone and tenor of Rahul’s speech was to incite the feelings of the people and create hatred towards the BJP as well as RSS,” he added.
Talking about the other Congress leaders, the complaint said, the Indian Natuonal Congress and its leaders had flouted the code with impunity time and again, inspite of the Election Commission’s warnings.
According to the BJP, there have been six instances of poll code violation by the Congress top brass in as many months, with five of them coming from Rahul.
Separately, the BJP lashed out at Congress leader Digvijay Singh for his barbs at Narendra Modi over his marital status, saying his comments reflected the “depression” that had crept in among the Congress leadership as a result of the “certain” defeat in the Lok Sabha polls staring the party in the face.