Election Commission ignores 37 complaints against Modi and Shah

Claiming that he has led as many as 15 delegations to the Election Commission of India during the past 25 days, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi wondered on Saturday why no action has been initiated on complaints against the PM and the BJP President.

“They hear us patiently, they assure us of action but what is the funniest part is they don’t take any action but claim that action has been taken,” he said at a press conference.

What the Election Commission is expected to do is to follow its own guidelines, instructions and earlier orders, he pointed out. The Commission is not expected to make an exception in the case of the leaders of the BJP.

“As there is a saying in English, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. An order which is a precedent, is not different for you and different for us,” he declared.

Lamenting the brazen violation of the Model Code by the two BJP leaders, Singhvi said that he understood their desperation at the prospect of losing the election. But he did not understand the conduct of the Election Commission, which appears to following two codes of conduct, one for the opposition and the other for the BJP.

Has the MCC (Model Code of Conduct) been replaced by a separate ‘Modi Code of Conduct’, he asked.

“Never has there been a more audacious set of individuals who for petty electoral gains have turned a blind eye to rules, guidelines and codes, behaving as if the Election Commission does not exist in this country, the Model Code of Conduct does not exist and there is no Constitution of India, no level playing field,” he fumed.

Never before in the past 72 years has the Election Commission failed to maintain a level playing field, he said.

“Of course, we are not surprised; this is proof that BJP, Mr. Modi and Mr. Amit Shah have accepted defeat; the knowledge of certain defeat has led to this fear, frustration, complete hypocrisy and turning a blind eye to elementary cannons of rule of law,” he declared.

What defies reason, he said, is the helplessness of the Election Commission, which is the most powerful body during the 50-60 days of the window when the election is being held. It is the duty of the Commission to ensure the integrity of the election, he pointed out, but the Commission is failing in its task.

EC officials had told NDTV earlier this week that the Commission was studying the complaints against the PM and Amit Shah and that suitable action would be taken. But it had failed to explain why the complaints were not uploaded on the ECI’s website. No action has been taken either.

Singhvi informed that the complaints lodged have broadly been under three heads : Hate Speech, Divisive and polarising speeches and politicising the armed forces and leveraging valour, courage and sacrifice for electoral purposes—something that no previous Government has done—not in 1965 or in 1971 or after Kargil in 1999.