NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday said top leaders of political parties should set “good examples” of campaign discourse expected of them even as the Trinamool Congress accused the poll body of blatantly favouring the ruling BJP and turning the MCC into “Modi Code of Conduct”. The poll body also asserted that it was primarily the leaders’ responsibility to correct their poll speeches in the remaining phases of the election to avoid a permanent dent on the social fabric of the country.
The Election Commission, which released its second report on the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct since the March 16 announcement of the Lok Sabha election, said it has disposed off 90% of complaints related to Model Code of Conduct violations in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
“With about two months completed since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect, campaign by various political parties and candidates at constituency level has largely remained violence free, less noisy, less cluttered and intrusive, free of inducement…,” the commission claimed.
However, the opposition parties continued to blame the poll body of doing little to stop violations of MCC by the ruling BJP and its leaders.
In a letter to the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress outlined specific instances of alleged violations by the BJP, including false and malicious allegations and appeals for votes based on religion, and divisive statements made by Prime Minister Modi in his rallies.
The Trinamool alleged that the model code of conduct has been turned into “Modi Code of Conduct”.
“Under the watch of the Election Commission, the Model Code of Conduct has now become the Modi Code of Conduct. Any statement made by Modi goes unchecked and no action is taken against him. This undermines the fairness of our elections,” TMC leader Sagarika Ghose said.
“(BJP chief) J P Nadda was served a notice but there has been absolutely no action taken on our complaints. Instead, PM Modi has become more emboldened in his remarks. He is making promises he has no right to make during elections, announcing financial schemes which his party cannot enact as the ruling party,” TMC leader Saket Gokhale said.
Gokhale said, “We have written to the EC demanding that for the remaining phases of the election, the Model Code of Conduct be strictly enforced, complaints be acted upon, and Prime Minister Modi not be given a clean chit every time he violates election rules.”
(With inputs from agencies)
The Election Commission, which released its second report on the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct since the March 16 announcement of the Lok Sabha election, said it has disposed off 90% of complaints related to Model Code of Conduct violations in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
“With about two months completed since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect, campaign by various political parties and candidates at constituency level has largely remained violence free, less noisy, less cluttered and intrusive, free of inducement…,” the commission claimed.
However, the opposition parties continued to blame the poll body of doing little to stop violations of MCC by the ruling BJP and its leaders.
In a letter to the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress outlined specific instances of alleged violations by the BJP, including false and malicious allegations and appeals for votes based on religion, and divisive statements made by Prime Minister Modi in his rallies.
The Trinamool alleged that the model code of conduct has been turned into “Modi Code of Conduct”.
“Under the watch of the Election Commission, the Model Code of Conduct has now become the Modi Code of Conduct. Any statement made by Modi goes unchecked and no action is taken against him. This undermines the fairness of our elections,” TMC leader Sagarika Ghose said.
“(BJP chief) J P Nadda was served a notice but there has been absolutely no action taken on our complaints. Instead, PM Modi has become more emboldened in his remarks. He is making promises he has no right to make during elections, announcing financial schemes which his party cannot enact as the ruling party,” TMC leader Saket Gokhale said.
Gokhale said, “We have written to the EC demanding that for the remaining phases of the election, the Model Code of Conduct be strictly enforced, complaints be acted upon, and Prime Minister Modi not be given a clean chit every time he violates election rules.”
(With inputs from agencies)
