The Bharatiya Janata Party's letter to the Election Commission complaining against Congress Vice President for breaking election model code of conduct. The BJP said Rahul is spreading communal hatred across India. The BJP delegation will meet the Election Commission on Monday.
Below is the tect of the letter:
To,
The Election Commission of India
Nirvachan Sadan
Ashok Road,
New Delhi-110001
Attn: Shri V.S. Sampath, Chief Election Commissioner
Shri H.S. Brahma, Election Commissioner
Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Election Commissioner
Shri Sudhir Tripathi, Deputy Election Commissioner
Sir,
Sub: Violation of Model Code of Conduct by Shri Rahul Gandhi, Vice President, Congress Party in speeches delivered in Rajasthan on 23 October 2013.
With the announcement of election schedule the model code of conduct has come into force in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh w.e.f. 4 October 2013.
On 23 October 2013, Shri Rahul Gandhi, Vice President, Congress Party addressed election rallies in Churu and Kherli (Alwar) in Rajasthan.
Enclosed are some press clippings of 24 October 2013 which cover these speeches. The speeches were also broadcast live on various TV Channels.
Some portions of the impassioned speeches seem to be clearly violative of the model code e.g. MCC 1. General Conduct (1) No party or candidate shall indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.
(2) Criticism of other parties or workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.
(3) There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
The speeches of Shri Rahul Gandhi in Rajasthan breach all the above.
Referring to the Muzaffarnagar riots in UP, he is reported to have said "I was seeing my face in their grief. That is why I am against the politics of BJP. They will set Muzaffarnagar on fire, Gujarat on fire, UP on fire and Kashmir on fire and then you and we will have to douse that ........... BJP divides people."
The happenings in Muzaffarnagar are still being investigated. He is accusing BJP, without any iota of proof. He is not naming any other party. He says BJP set Gujarat on fire; the last one decade or more has witnessed a riot free Gujarat. Still he weaves out fancied charges against BJP. BJP is nowhere in Kashmir and yet he blames them. He is significantly muted and silent on the 1984 riots and erases the role of the Congress Party in those riots from history.
Another extract of his speech reads as follows. "If there is one thing that our opposition does, it is to instill anger in people. They incite HINDUS against MUSLIMS and create unrest." It is an accepted convention that one does not name a community even in the context of communal flare ups. Here the vice president of Congress throws all norms of decency and frontally names communities-the oppressor and the oppressed-and blames it all on the opposition (BJP is his only opposition in Rajasthan). If this is not an appeal to caste or communal feeling for securing votes (prohibited in para 1(3) of the MCC) what is it?
He says "Pehle aap (BJP) dange karwate ho, logon mein gussa daalte ho, phir kehto ho aatankwad kyon ho raha hai" "you engineer riots, instill anger in people and then ask why is there terrorism?" That Shri Rahul Gandhi is criticizing other parties (BJP) based on unverified allegations or distortions is patent in this observation and this is clearly violative of para (1) General Conduct (2) of the MCC.
Besides the actual utterances, the impassioned manner in which these are delivered would appear to incite a riotous behaviour which is not conducive to an atmosphere of peace and harmony in which the Election Commission is committed to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
I shall be grateful if the Election Commission would urgently look into this and issue a show cause notice on the Congress Party and its vice president, Shri Rahul Gandhi, why action should not be taken against them for willful and blatant violation of the model code of conduct.
I shall appreciate receiving an early response of the ECI to the above complaint.
Yours faithfully,
(R. Ramakrishna)
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