EC yet to decide if PM flouted code

The Election Commission (EC) is yet to decide if Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated its advisory by referring to Indian Army as well as to India's air-strikes on a terror camp in Pakistan while addressing poll-rally at Latur in Maharashtra on April 9.

The EC also has not yet decided if Prime Minister flouted the Model Code of Conduct with his speech at another election rally at Wardha in Maharashtra itself on April 1. He accused the opposition Congress of hurting the sentiments of the Hindus of India by allegedly coining the term Hindu terror. In a veiled reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad in Kerala in addition to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister said that the leaders of the opposition party were now seeking election from constituencies where “majority” community of the country were “minority”.

The poll-panel is still “examining” the transcripts of his speech even as more than three weeks passed after Prime Minister made the remarks in Wardha. A fortnight also passed since Prime Minister, while addressing a rally in Latur on April 9, called upon first-time voters to dedicate their votes to the defence personnel who conducted India's February 26 air-strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Pakistan. But the commission is still going through the transcript of his speech.

The EC had on March 9 and 19 issued two advisories asking the politicians not to display pictures of defence personnel or refer to their activities to seek votes during electioneering.

Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner, told journalists that the commission had received the full transcript of Prime Minister's April 1 speech in Wardha on April 14. Similarly, the full transcript of his speech in Latur reached the EC's headquarters in Nirvachan Sadan on April 16.

He said that the EC had decided that it would study any speech by any political personality “in its entirety” before deciding whether or not any remark by her or his had violated the Model Code of Conduct or any of its instructions or advisories. That was why the poll-panel asked the local election officials at Wardha and Latur to send the full transcripts of Prime Minister's speeches. Since the local officials were also busy in conducting polling or preparing for the polling, it took sometime to send the transcripts, added Kumar.

Prime Minister delivered the speeches in Hindi in both Wardha and Latur while campaigning for the local candidates of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The DEC said that the local officials were not so well-versed in Hindi as they were in Marathi and it was also among the reasons for which they had taken sometime to prepare and send the transcripts of the speeches to the commission.

The EC has a separate section on its website with details of all cases of alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The particular section of the website generally updates about status of the cases as well as contain decision of the EC too. The section, however, does not have any complaint against Prime Minister for violation of Model Code of Conduct.

The Congress and other opposition parties had over the past few weeks lodged several complaints against Prime Minister as well as BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders of the ruling party.

Another portal of the EC – National Grievance Service Portal – has been showing the status of the complaint about Prime Minister's speech in Latur as “resolved”. The poll-panel sources, however, said that the status of the complaint should have been mentioned as “Details Sent to ECI Hqs”. The EC called for explanation from the concerned officer by 1 pm on Thursday.