Lok Sabha elections 2019: PM’s ‘minority is majority’ comment gets EC clean chit
Prime Minister Modi’s speech in Maharashtra’s Wardha does not violate the model code of conduct, the Election Commission said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not violate the poll code of conduct in his Wardha speech in which he had claimed the opposition was scared to contest from seats where the majority community accounted for most of the constituency’s population. The remark was seen as an attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi who has decided to contest from Kerala’s Wayanad seat as well as Amethi.
“Leaders of that party are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by the majority (Hindu) population… It is evident from the fact that one has to contest a seat where the minority is majority,” the PM Modi said, according to the complaint filed by the Congress party.
The Congress had alleged that the prime minister had, in this speech of 1 April, made some “hateful, vile and divisive” remarks against party president Rahul Gandhi and tried to spread hate for electoral gains.
The Election Commission, however, said it had examined the complaint in detail in line with the model code of conduct, the law and the report of Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer.
“Accordingly, Commission is of the considered view that in this matter no such violation has been noticed,” the commission’s order, delivered almost a month after Prime Minister Modi’s speech, said.
The Election Commission’s decision came after the Congress approached the Supreme Court complaining that the poll panel had gone soft on PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The top court did not go into the details of the petition by Congress lawmaker Sushmita Dev on Tuesday after the poll panel said the commission was meeting today to take a decision.