NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) on Friday served a notice on Atishi over her claims that the BJP approached her to join the party “to save her political career” and asked her to submit a reply by Monday noon substantiating her allegations.
Reacting to the notice, the AAP leader asked if the poll panel has become a “subsidiary organisation” of BJP and alleged that the notice was leaked to the media by the saffron party an hour before it was served to her through email.
On Tuesday, Atishi claimed that the ED would arrest her in a month if she refused to switch parties. She alleged that the BJP had invited her to join the party “through a message” conveyed by “someone close”.
In the notice, a copy of which is with this newspaper, the EC said, “… you are a minister in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and leader of a national party. The electors tend to believe whatever is being said from a public forum by their leaders and in that sense the statements made by them affect the campaign discourse… it is expected that there must be a factual foundation to the above-quoted statements made by you and when the veracity of the statements made by you is contested, then you must be able to back your statements with a factual basis and whereas the matter is being examined by the Commission in light of the provisions of Model Code of Conduct and relevant electoral laws.”
The EC took the action following a complaint by the BJP in which it alleged that she had made “misleading and unverified statements” against the party. The notice also quoted her statement in Hindi: “… I was told that either I join the BJP and save my political career or should end it…”