NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Wednesday sent show cause notices to Congress leader Supriya Shrinate and senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh for their controversial comments on actor Kangana Ranaut and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
The EC in its notice said the remarks by Supriya and Dilip were found to be in violation of provisions of the Model Code of Conduct. It sought their responses by 5 pm on March 29. Supriya in her social media account had posted a picture of Kangana with a nasty caption asking what was the going rate at the mandi (market). It came after Kangana was named the BJP candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Following an uproar, Supriya deleted the post and said, “Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post today. ”
Dilip Ghosh on March 26 said, “When Didi goes to Goa, she calls herself the daughter of Goa. When she goes to Tripura, she says that she is the daughter of Tripura. She should first identify her own father.”
The EC said it has found the comments “offensive, insulting and prima facie violative” of the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and its advisory.
“As per clause (2) of Part I ‘General Conduct’ of the Model Code of Conduct for the guidance of political parties and candidates, criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programmes, records and work. Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life not connected with the public activities of the leaders. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortions shall be avoided,” the EC said.