The Maharashtra State Election Commission filed a complaint against Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora on Friday for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct during a campaign rally in Mumbai on April 4, NDTV reported.
Deora had allegedly accused the Shiv Sena of hurting religious sentiments of Jains and urged the community to teach the party a lesson by not voting for them in the Lok Sabha elections, ANI reported. Deora is the Congress party’s South Mumbai candidate.
“The Shiv Sena insulted the Jain community a few years ago when its activists cooked meat outside your temples during Paryushan,” Deora had said at an event in Mumbai, according to The Tribune. “Remember this when you go out to cast your votes.”
The Paryushan festival is annual event within the Jain community during which an eight-day fast is observed.
The Election Commission filed a case after a Shiv Sena complained to the poll body that the allegations were “false and religiously sensitive”, ANI reported.
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant refuted Deora’s allegations. “Shiv Sena has never done such a thing,” Sawant told NDTV. “And will never do it. This is all politics. Now I want to ask him [Deora] whom will you ask votes from in Byculla, Mumbadevi, Kalbadevi?”
The South Mumbai constituency goes to the polls on April 29. The seat is currently held by Sawant, who defeated Deora in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
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