Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on March 18 filed a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Election Commission of India (ECI) for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for using an Indian Air Force helicopter to attend an election rally in AC 96-Chilakaluripet in Palnadu, Andhra Pradesh, on Sunday.
The rules prohibit the use of state machinery for campaigning. Indira Gandhi was disqualified in 1975 specifically for this reason. If BJP paid for renting the IAF chopper, then EC should let us all know along with the grounds for why an IAF chopper was essential, Mr. Gokhale said.
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He added that ECI, while announcing the elections, had said that code of conduct violations will be dealt with strictly.
“Let’s see if EC initiates a probe or any action against PM Modi for using an IAF chopper for election campaigning,” the TMC MP posted on X, formerly Twitter, making public his complaint.
In a separate post, Mr. Gokhale said that he approached the ECI and not the Supreme Court because courts are not allowed to interfere in electoral matters when elections are going on. “The action here needs to be taken solely by ECI,” he added.
When a user cited the 2014 notification of ECI which allowed the use of government vehicles for SPG protectees, Mr. Gokhale responded: “The exception is for the use of official bulletproof vehicles & convoy vehicles (like jammer cars etc). for security reasons & NOT for using IAF helicopters.”
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During the press conference announcing the election schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the poll body will be strict in dealing with MCC violators. “Last time we had a moral sensor. This time we will be stricter,” he added.
