The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India to take action against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct by making “unverified” allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ANI reported. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad confirmed the development after a BJP delegation met Election Commission officials in New Delhi.
“We have requested the EC to take action against Rahul Gandhi for levelling unverified allegations against PM Narendra Modi yesterday in Ahmedabad, when the Model Code of Conduct is already in effect,” said Prasad. However, he did not clarify the exact allegations on the basis of which the party complained to the electoral monitor.
The code of conduct came into effect on March 10, when the EC announced the schedule of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.
At the Jan Sankalp Rally in Gujarat on Tuesday, Gandhi had accused Modi of having “stolen” Rs 30,000 crore from the Indian Air Force and giving it to businessman Anil Ambani as part of the Rafale jet deal. In another allegation, he said former French President Francois Hollande had claimed that the “Indian prime minister had told him that the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was not going to get the contract of Rafale jet deal, but Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence was going to get it”.
Gandhi had said that all national institutions were under attack under the current Modi government and had accused it of ignoring actual issues, such as unemployment.
‘Declare West Bengal a super-sensitive state’
Prasad said the BJP also asked the Election Commission to declare West Bengal “a super-sensitive state”. “We have also demanded that central forces should be deployed at all polling booths,” he added.
The saffron party had made a similar request in January, asking the EC to declare West Bengal a “critical and vulnerable state”. The BJP had demanded that only central observers be appointed at all booths to ensure free and fair polling during the Lok Sabha elections, which will be held across seven phases in the state from April 11 to May 19.
The ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday had claimed that the staggered elections in the state will inconvenience people during Ramzan and the summer months. It had accused the Centre of targetting the state to ensure that Muslims do not vote in large numbers due to fasting during Ramzan. Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim also claimed that the Centre had misled the EC about the law and order situation in the state.
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