Modi falsifying poll affidavit, EC should act: Congress

Congress on Tuesday demanded that the Election Commission take “thorough cognizance” of the “seemingly deliberate omissions” in the affidavits filed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the poll authority.

Flashing reports in a section of the media, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused Modi of providing contradictory information about properties owned by him in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

“The Election Commission should take appropriate action under the Representation of Peoples Act,” the Congress spokesperson said.

Khera said under section 125A of the Representation of People Act 1952, falsifying an election affidavit attracted imprisonment of six months or with a fine or both.

The Congress attack came after a petition in this regard was also filed in the Supreme Court by Saket Gokhale, a political communications strategist based in Mumbai.

Quoting the media report and the petition in the Supreme Court, Khera said Modi had declared a plot of land – Plot No 411 in a Gandhinagar area – in the affidavit filed with the Election Commission in 2007.

However, Khera said the said plot has “mysteriously disappeared” from the subsequent affidavits filed by Modi despite the Gujarat land records showing that the prime minister was the sole owner of the plot.

The Congress spokesperson said Modi had subsequently declared that he owned one-fourth share in Plot No 401/A in the same Gandhinagar locality, but land records showed that no such plot existed.