Almost a month after issuing notices to Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over alleged Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations by their star campaigners, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday directed BJP star campaigners not to make communal speeches and those of the Opposition party to refrain from saying the Constitution may be abolished.
ECI came down heavily on the presidents of both the national parties, directing them to issue formal notes to star campaigners of the Lok Sabha elections to correct their discourse, exercise care and maintain decorum.
The poll body asked the BJP and the Congress to desist from campaigning along caste, community, language, and religious lines, asserting that India’s socio-cultural milieu cannot be made a casualty to elections.
In its orders to both party presidents, the ECI said their responses to the notices were not tenable. Both had defended their star campaigners. The ECI cited complaints against both parties for violation of MCC received after the April 25 notices, saying the star campaigners had not stopped making such statements.
In the case of Nadda, the EC directed him “as party president to also convey to all the star campaigners to not make speeches and statements, which may divide the society.” It also directed the BJP and its star campaigners “to refrain from any campaigning methods/utterances along religious/communal lines”.
Nearly a month after it issued notice to Nadda on the opposition’s charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a divisive speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara, the poll watchdog rejected his defence and asked him and his party’s star campaigners to desist from campaigning on religious and communal lines.
Along with Nadda, the EC had issued a similar notice to Kharge asking him to respond to the complaints filed by the BJP against him and the main opposition party’s senior leader Rahul Gandhi regarding their remarks.
The EC also rejected his defence and asked Congress not to politicise defence forces and make potentially divisive statements regarding socio-economic composition of the armed forces. It also asked the Congress to ensure that its star campaigners and candidates do not make statements which give false impression that the Constitution may be abolished or sold.