Assembly Elections 2024 | EC seeks J P Nadda, Mallikarjun Kharge's response amid spate of complaints by BJP, Congress

In the two letters, the ECI sought comments from Kharge and Nadda in response to the complaints lodged by the two parties against each other.

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday asked party chiefs J P Nadda (BJP) and Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress) to respond to allegations raised against their party leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi following complaints filed by both the parties.

Separate letters were sent to Nadda and Kharge asking them to respond to the allegations levelled by their rivals by 1 pm on Monday, five hours before the end of campaigns for Maharashtra and the last phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections.

The EC also reminded both the parties about an earlier advisory sent to them during the Lok Sabha election campaign, asking them to ensure that star campaigners refrain from making statements that flout the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The BJP had filed the complaint against top Congress leader Rahul on November 11 while the Congress submitted separate complaints against Modi and Shah on November 11 as well. The EC has shared the complaints with each other.

In its complaint, the BJP had demanded that Rahul be reprimanded, censured and restrained from "handing out lies" during the election campaign. They also wanted an FIR against Rahul and Kharge.

While seeking action, they had cited Rahul's comments at a meeting in Mumbai on November 6 where he said that the BJP-RSS wants abolition of the Constitution. They also cited his comments about projects going out of Maharashtra to Gujarat, which the BJP claimed was wrong.

The Congress, meanwhile, had demanded banning Modi and Shah from campaigning during this season of elections. Besides remarks by the two leaders, the party also referred to "objectionable" social media content shared by BJP handles.

Complaining against Modi, the Congress had referred to Modi's remarks in Nashik and Dhule in Maharashtra on November 8 where the Prime Minister claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were opposed to quotas for Dalits, tribals and OBCs. Congress said this was "false, malicious and slanderous".

On Shah, they said the Home Minister accused the Congress and its allies of being against Dalits, tribals and OBCs and promoting terrorism in the country. Shah also claimed that the Congress was planning to do away with the quota regime.

The Congress called these allegations "false, divisive, malicious and slanderous".

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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