Assembly Elections 2023 latest news: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over objectionable and unverified remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the notice to Kejriwal pertains to two social media posts on X by the AAP, the notice to the Congress leader concern alleged unverified and false statements with regard to the Prime Minister.
Both notices have been sent following representations to the poll panel by a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. While AAP had alleged that PM Modi was working for businessman Gautam Adani, Priyanka accused him of privatising public sector undertakings at a recent election rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
The EC said in its notice to AAP that it was “prima facie of the view that the tweets from the handle of the Aam Aadmi Party mentioned in the aforesaid complaint violate the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct read with relevant election and penal laws.”
On November 10, the BJP delegation led by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri approached the Election Commission and demanded action against the AAP for posting “very unacceptable” and “unethical” video clips and remarks on a social media platform targeting PM Modi.
The poll panel has asked Kejriwal to “explain the statements/allegations/averments, made in the alleged social media posts” by 7 pm on Thursday. The ECI notice added that the AAP, its national convenor and candidates in the ongoing state elections “ought to have verified the facts and have proof in its possession to justify the ex facie derogatory, insulting and disparaging animation, caricature, scam, nexus with a business person for a slanderous narrative against the star campaigner of another National Party, who is a democratically elected Prime Minister of the Nation.”
The EC notice said the two posts had prima facie violated the MCC provision against “criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders…Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion…” and also cited a Supreme Court order in a 1969 case.
The EC’s notice to Priyanka, on the other hand, was for a statement made during an election rally in Madhya Pradesh, where she asked the Prime Minister why he had given BHEL to his “bade udyogpati mitron [big industrialist friends]”. Citing the MCC provision against making unverified allegations, the poll body asked her to explain her statement by 8pm on Thursday. This is the second EC notice to Priyanka amid the ongoing Assembly elections.
In its complaint to the poll panel, the BJP alleged that addressing a public rally at Sanwer Assembly Constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Priyanka “made unverified and false statements in respect of PM Narendra Modi that have the potential to mislead the public and tarnish the image of PM.”
The Election Commission has asked her to explain the statement by November 16 as to why appropriate action for violation of MCC as well as provisions of election and penal laws should not be taken against her.