NEW DELHI: On the eve of the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress approached the Election Commission and sought immediate action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several leaders of the BJP for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct and the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
In a letter to the ECI, Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that PM Modi flouted the MCC by addressing the public through a video message, wherein he appealed to the voters of Karnataka on behalf of BJP and all its candidates contesting in the Karnataka elections.
Surjewala said the video was posted from PM’s Twitter handle at 10 pm on Monday after the silent period came into effect from Monday at 6.00 pm.
The leader also sought action against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, and other leaders for their live interviews after the declaration of the silence period. In these interviews, the said leaders spoke extensively about the Karnataka polls and their respective candidates, said the petition.
In the letter, the Congress further said that it will be a litmus test for the ECI to exercise its constitutional duty under Article 324 of the Constitution of India and hold those in power accountable.
“The alternative is clear. There will be no level playing field and instead, there will be ‘free for all’, with those in power never being held accountable either to the ECI or to the rule of law. An unwritten but accepted norm would be that the ECI’s mandate extends only to Opposition parties and not to the PM and his colleagues,” said the letter.
“One thing is extremely clear. PM Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, and other BJP leaders consider themselves above the law and the Constitution and presume that the ECI is either intimidated by the high offices they hold or that the ECI is too weak to act against them or holds them accountable for blatant and repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct, the written instructions of the ECI as well as various other electoral laws,” it charged, seeking immediate intervention of the poll body “into the brazen, deliberate and calculated violation of the MCC as well as the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951.”
Urging the ECI to protect the bedrock of democracy, the Congress alleged that the BJP has made every attempt to polarise, divide, divert, and deceive the electorate to cling to power at any cost.