The Election Commission (ECI) issued two separate show-cause notices to West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on May 18 for his party allegedly issuing advertisements targeting the State's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The poll panel has sought Mr. Majumdar's explanation on why two advertisements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not be treated as violative of the Model Code of Conduct, which is in force for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, and its advisory to political parties. The BJP leader has been asked to respond by 5 p.m. on May 21.
According to an English transcript provided in the notices, one advertisement is titled "Trinamool is root cause of corruption" while the other is titled "Anti-Sanatan Trinamool". The first one alleged that West Bengal has become a cradle of corruption while the other advertisement alleged that the Ram temple in Ayodhya is considered "unholy" in "this State".
The TMC had approached the EC against the advertisements, dubbing those as "misleading".
While issuing the notices, the poll watchdog reminded Mr. Majumdar about the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, which deals with criticism based on unverified allegations, and its recent advisory to political parties that said unverified and misleading advertisements should not be published in the media.
