The Congress on May 9 moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) to complain against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for violating the ‘silence period’ under the model code of conduct (MCC) by a releasing a video appeal to the voters of Karnataka long after campaigning ended at 5 p.m. on Monday.
Prime Minister Modi had posted a video appeal on his Twitter handle on Tuesday morning in which he said that Karnataka could make him achieve his mission to make India a developed nation and the third largest economy in the world by voting in a BJP government.
In a lengthy complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala asked the poll panel whether it would remain a “mute and helpless spectator” or fulfil its constitutional duty and act against Mr. Modi.
Posting the complaint on his twitter handle, Mr. Surjewala said the case would be a ‘litmus test’ for the EC’s “capacity and willingness to enforce laws”. Forty-eight hours before the end of polling are considered the silence period.
Interestingly, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had addressed over 40 public meetings and press conferences since March 20, also issued a video appeal on his Twitter handle on Tuesday morning. In his tweet, along with the video, Mr. Kharge said that as the son of Karnataka, he was asking the voters to “bless his party by choosing Congress’ election symbol of the hand”.
The Congress leaders claimed that while its campaign gave a vision for the future, the BJP tried to “distort and distract from key issues“.
“The Congress party in Karnataka has driven a positive, development-centric campaign with a vision to uplift all Kannadigas. Alternatively, the BJP’s campaign has only aimed to distract, divide and deceive the people,” tweeted Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
“Congress set the agenda for this election from Day 1, and INC President @kharge ji guided us every step of the way. Through interactions with thousands of Kannadigas during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, we came up with a vision for the state & our beloved leader Shri @RahulGandhi ji gave Karnataka the 5 Guarantees,” added general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal.
